Former DIG of the Assam Border Police, eminent intellectual, and writer Hiranya Kumar Bhattacharya passed away in the wee hours of Monday morning in Guwahati.

The 86 year old decorated officer breathed his last at 4:30 a.m. at Nemcare Hospital. He had been suffering from respiratory issues since he was diagnosed with coronavirus. Bhattacharya's last rites will be performed at Navagraha Cemetery today.

In 1981, during the six-year-old Assam agitation, Bhattacharya was taken into preventive detention under the National Security Act (NSA) in support of the agitation before finally losing his job in the police force.

Bhattacharya had also trained the freedom fighters in Assam to liberate Bangladesh. In 2013, the Government of Bangladesh awarded the Friends of Liberation War honour to him.

He has written books such as Betrayal of North East: The Arrested Voice and Operation Lebensraum – Illegal Migration From Bangladesh.