Chennai, February 23: Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, State Communist leaders and workers on Tuesday paid homage to CPI(M) leader W.R. Varadarajan, who was suspected to have committed suicide.
The body of the late Varadarajan, which was recovered in a highly decomposed state from a lake here, was kept at the party office for paying homage.
Senior CPI(M) leaders including, State secretary G.Ramakrishnan, N. Varadarajan and CPI leader R. Nallakannu paid their last respects to Varadarajan.
The body of 64-year-old Varadarajan, who was reportedly upset over being stripped of key party posts on charge of misconduct early this month, was found a few days after he left home on February 11, leaving behind two unsigned letters.
Varadarajan, a CPI(M) Central Committee member, was divested of all party posts for “conduct that was not in conformity with Marxist principles.”
On Sunday, Varadarajan’s wife Saraswathy identified his highly decomposed body. Police said yesterday that the identity marks on the body tallied confirming that it was Varadarajan.
Varadarajan had wished to donate his body for medical research, but it would be cremated as it was highly decomposed, party sources said.
—PTI