Basu's body to be moved to Kolkata mortuary

Kolkata, Jan.17 (ANI): The remains of former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu will be moved from the hospital where he died on Sunday to a mortuary in central Kolkata for a day.

CPI-M sources were quoted as saying that Basu's body would lie in state at the CPI-M headquarters in the city from Monday.

The West Bengal Government is yet to announce the period of mourning for the departed leader.

Basu died at the AMRI Hospital of multiple-organ failure at 11.47 a.m. on Sunday. He was 95.

He was admitted to the hospital on January 1 with acute respiratory failure bordering on pneumonia. He was also undergoing treatment at the hospital for age-related ailments.

On Friday, doctors at the hospital said in a medical bulletin that his condition was very critical and hope for his survival was receding.

Basu served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal for 24 years from 1977 to 2000. (ANI)