Leading criminal lawyer and CPI leader passes away

Chennai, May 28 (UNI) Leading criminal lawyer and a veteran CPI leader N T Vanamamalai died here this afternoon after a brief illness.

He was 84. He is survived by his wife, a daughter, son-in-law and two grand children.

Family sources said he was undergoing treatment at a private hospital for the past five days for fever and the end came at 1330 hrs this afternoon.

The cremation will take place at the Besant Nagar crematorium tomorrow, family sources said.

Having appeared in a number of cases to protect civil liberty and the rights of the working class, Mr Vanamamalai shot into fame when he secured compensation for the families of Sikhs, massacred in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi assassination.

Only son of Kolkota-based industrialist ''Nanguneri'' N T Chari, Mr Vanamamalai had his B.Sc Degree at Presidency College and studied law at Tirunelveli Law College.

He began his career as a junior of the then leading criminal lawyer K P Balaji in 1943, before he came to Chennai to take up his independent practicising at Madras High Court.

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