Soumitra Chatterjee cremated with full state honours; Bengal bids tearful farewell

Bengal bid a tearful ieu to iconic actor Soumitra Chatterjee as thousands of people walked a few kilometres following a hearse which carried his body to a crematorium where his mortal remains were consigned to flames with full state honours on Sunday evening.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, along with her ministerial colleagues and a host of film personalities, walked in procession with ors singing Rabindranath Tagore's song, Aguner parashmoni chhoao praane ( touchstone of fire will turn us pure).

Hundreds of people, some of m holding candles, also stood along both sides of ro and crowded rooftops in nearby houses to have a last look at ir favourite actor who h mesmerised m with his acting prowess in films and stage for six deces.

Many people were seen holding photographs of actor in different characters immortalised by him which included ''Apu'' and ''Feluda'', while some are struggling to hold back tears.

Posters reing "Apu is no more in this world" were put up on roside. Chatterjee me his acting debut with Satyajit Rays 1959 film ''Apur Sansar'', English title of which was '' world of Apu''.

As last journey ended at Keoratala Crematorium, Chatterjee was given a gun salute and his mortal remains were consigned to flames in presence of chief minister and or dignitaries.

Not just Banerjee and leers of her party Trinamool Congress, senior CPI(M) leers such as Biman Bose, Suryakanta Mishra and Sujan Chakraborty also took part in procession which started from Rabindra San, a government auditorium where Chatterjee''s body was kept for some time for people to pay ir homage.

Soumitra Chatterjee passes away

Soumita Chatterjee passed away at a private hospital in Kolkata on Sunday after over a month of treatment post contracting COVID-19. Though he recovered from coronavirus, his health kept fluctuating, before succumbing to it.

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(With PTI inputs)