KOLKATA: Kalikaprasad Bhattacharya, a well known Bengali folk music singer, has died in a car accident in Gurap in Hooghly district on Tuesday.
Sources said the rear tyre of the fast moving car, in which he was travelling, burst and the vehicle plunged into a nullah beside the National Highway 2 at around 10 am on Tuesday.
While Kalikaprasad was brought dead to the Burdwan Medical College, three of the five members of his band 'Dohar' were critically injured. The band was on its way to perform at a college in Siuri, Birbhum district.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has expressed her shock over the sudden demise of the musician and has announced Kalikaprasad would be laid to rest with full state honours.
The 56-year-old Assam-born musician was instrumental in reviving Bengali folk music in the greater Bengal region after the formation of the immensely popular music band 'Dohar' in 1999.
The band never used any foreign instrument and relied on local instruments popular in various parts of greater Bengal region. Dohar has remained busy with frequent shows throughout the greater Bengal region; recently, it was associated with a music programme on a Bengali channel.
Millions of Bengalis, including top celebrities, have expressed shock over Kalikaprasad's death.