Former Dhanbad MP Arun Kumar Roy passed away at the age of 84 on Sunday morning. Roy has been ill since a long time and was admitted in coronary care unit at BCCL’s Central Hospital at Dhanbad where breathed his last. Roy was born on June 15, 1935. His last rites will be performed on Monday with State honour.
Condoling the death of AK Roy, Chief Minister Raghubar said that it is an irreparable loss to Jharkhand. He instructed that Roy’s funeral received State honours.
Other dignitaries including Mayor Shekhar Agarwal, MLA Raj Sinha, Jagnath Mahato, Arup Chatterjee former minister Jaleshwar Mahato, Mathura Mahato and other party leaders rushed at the hospital to pay homage to Roy on hearing the news of his death.
Spokesperson of Ajsu Party, Deosharan Bhagat said that the demise of Roy is very sad. “He was a mentor and leader of the Jharkhand movement. He was a symbol of simplicity and honesty, and he struggled for the poor and labourers. He always fought against corruption,” Bhagat said.
Apart from being MP from Dhanbad constituency thrice, Roy had also been a legislator from the Sindri constituency three times.
He was the founder of Marxist Coordination Committee (MCC), for the first time, contested independently from Dhanbad in 1977 and became a Member of Parliament. He was supported by the Janata Party, which also got the advantage of the JP movement. He was also victorious in the Lok Sabha elections of 1980 and 1989.
Roy completed his primary education from a local school at Naogaon, Rajshahi in 1951 and later went to Belur Ram Krishna Mission School, from where he completed his secondary education, said Raman Roy a relative.
Roy had done his BSc from Surendranath College, Kolkata, and later gained a Masters Degree in 1959 in Chemical Engineering from Calcutta University. Later he started his vocation in an industrial house of Kolkata.
After serving there for two years he joined as Research Engineer, and worked under a scientist Dr Kshitish Ranjan Chakraborty in the newly established Projects and Development India Limited at Sindri, Dhanbad, he informed.
Roy, a bachelor in early seventies joined politics and since then represented Dhanbad Lok Sabha thrice in 1977, 1980 and 1989. He also represented Sindri in Bihar Assembly in 1967, 1969 and 1972. Roy was also credited for taking lead role in Jharkhand movement that demanded separate State from Bihar in 1971. Along with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren and former MP late Binod Bihari Mahto, Roy began the Jharkhand movement. Jharkhand became a separate State on November 15, 2000.