Cartoonist Narayan Debnath, the creator of Bengali comic characters 'Bantul The Great', 'Handa Bhonda' and 'Nonte Phonte', died in Kolkata on Tuesday morning after a prolonged illness, said the hospital where he was undergoing treatment.

He was 97, reports NDTV.

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Debnath, a Padma Shri awardee, died at 10.15 am, an official of the hospital said.

He was admitted to the private hospital on December 24 and was on ventilator support.