Pradip Chowdhury dies at 64 in Kolkata

Veteran journalist and former news editor of the Press Trust of India (PTI) Pradip Chowdhury died in a private hospital of the city, family sources said on Friday. Chowdhury was 64.

He is survived by his two daughters. His wife predeceased him. He was admitted to the hospital on September 17 in an unconscious state and he never regained consciousness. He breathed his last around midnight in the intervening night of October 3 and 4.

His mortal remains were consigned to flames at the Keoratala crematorium on Friday. Popularly known as 'PC' among his colleagues, Chowdhury joined PTI in 1979 and retired as its news editor in the East India desk here in August 2014 after a career spanning 35 years.

Chowdhury was known for his editing skills and ability to work for very long hours at a stretch. He was posted as the Islamabad correspondent of the news agency for some time.

He had also headed the agency's Gangtok bureau.

The alumnus of Calcutta Boys School and Presidency College (presently Presidency University) was a voracious reader and a connoisseur of Western music, art and photography.

A self-taught expert of digital photo editing, he maintained a blog on that subject and had a large following across boundaries.