Former Union Minister and son of Ex-Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Babu Banarasi Das, Akhilesh Das Gupta passed away after suffering a heart attack on April 12. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took to twitter to express grief over the death of the Congress leader. He wrote- “Saddened by the demise of former MP & Union Minister, Shri Akhilesh Das. His active contribution to public life will be remembered. RIP.”

PM Narendra Modi’s tweet-

The 56-year-old minister took his last breath on Wednesday, he was the son of late Babu Banarasi Das who was a freedom fighter and also served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh between 1979 to 1980.

Akhilesh Das Gupta was the president of Badminton Association of India, vice-president of Badminton Asia Confederation, a member of the Executive Council of Badminton World Federation and vice-president of the Indian Olympic Association. As a national-level badminton player, Gupta had represented Uttar Pradesh and the country in various International Badminton Tournaments. Gupta, along with other higher officials of the Badminton Association of India, was accused of fraud and nepotism by favouring his own children for a goodwill trip to Japan. They were later investigated by the Crime Branch of Investigation (CBI).

The CBI completed the investigation and sent its report to the Sports Ministry, Government of India, but no action had been taken yet.