Tapas Das of legendary Bengali rock band Mohiner Ghoraguli passes away

Tapas Das of Bangla band Mohiner Ghoraguli (Photo: Rupam Islam`s Facebook)

Tapas Das, a member of the iconic Bengali rock band Mohiner Ghoraguli, has passed away at the age of 68. Tapas, better known as Bapi da, was battling cancer and was undergoing treatment at the SSKM Hospital in Kolkata. He is survived by his wife.

The government of West Bengal had come forward to help the singer and provided financial assistance throughout his treatment.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee mourned the death of the singer. In a post shared on Twitter, she wrote, "I mourn the death of Tapas Das ( Bapi da), who was a part of India's first rock band in Bangla, Moheener Ghoraguli. He was diagnosed with a terminal illness and our government bore his full treatment costs at SSKM hospital for months as our humble support to the talented artiste's family. My condolences to the artiste's wife Sutapa and the bereaved family and his admirers."

Rock band Fossils' lead singer Rupam Islam shared a few photos from a conversation he had with Tapas Das and said, "Only memories like this remain. The eternal journey of music goes on, it will be wrong to say it has stopped. Bapi Da, you might not be there with us in person, but you will always be there throughout, in music. Red salute. Long live the revolution."

The iconic rock group Mohiner Ghoraguli was established in 1975. The original band members included Gautam Chattopadhyay (vocals, lead guitar, voice, saxophone, folk instruments and lyrics), Pradip Chatterjee (bass guitar and flute), Tapas Das (lyrics, vocals and guitar), Ranjon Ghoshal, Biswanath Bishu Chattaopadhyay (drums), Abraham Majumdar (piano, violin) and Tapesh Bandopadhyay (vocals, guitar).

Mohiner Ghoraguli and their songs served as an inspiration for many rock bands that emerged later and found popularity in Bengal. Some of their iconic tracks include 'Prithibi ta naki', 'Telephone', 'Tomay Dilam', and 'Ghore pherar gaan'. 'Prithibi ta naki' was remade as 'Bheegi Bheegi' by music composer Pritam Chakraborty for the Hindi film 'Gangster' in 2006.