Veteran Bengali cartoonist Narayan Debnath, the creator of comic characters 'Bantul The Great', 'Handa Bhonda' and 'Nonte Phonte' succumbed to prolonged illness at a south Kolkata nursing home on Tuesday morning.
He was 96.
Debnath, a Padma Shri awardee, died at 10.15am, an official of the hospital said.
He was admitted to the private hospital on December 24 and was on ventilator support.
"Sad at demise of Padma Shri #NarayanDebnath legendary cartoonist and creator of immortal characters Bantul the Great, Handa- Bhonda, Nonte- Fonte for children's world. Huge loss to the world of literary creativity and comics. My thoughts are with his family, friends and fans." Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar tweeted.
"Extremely sad that the noted litterateur, illustrator, cartoonist, and creator of some immortal characters for children's world, Narayan Debnath is no more. He had created Bantul the Great, Handa- Bhonda, Nonte- Fonte, figures that have been etched in our hearts for decades." chief minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted.
According to hospital sources, the veteran cartoonist had been suffering from heart problems since Tuesday morning. His condition became critical. His blood pressure was fluctuating.
Doctors said that all kinds of attempts are being made. But Narayan Debnath did not respond to treatment. According to hospital sources, the people of his house were informed around that time.
