Civil Rights activist K Balagopal passes away

Noted civil rights activist K Balagopal died of cardiac arrest at a hospital in Hyderabad, family source said on Friday.

Balagopal (57) was taken to the hospital at Mehidipatnam in the Hyderabad on Thursday night and he breathed his last while undergoing treatment, they said.

Born in Anantapur district, Balagopal worked in Kakatiya University as a professor but took to practising law nearly a decade ago. He broke away from the Andhra pradesh Civil Liberties committee, with which he had been associated with since its inception in the 1980's, following differences and founded the Human Rights Forum to fight for human rights and civil liberties.

He argued hundreds of cases of human rights violation and encounter killings as an advocate. His funeral would take place on Friday evening, sources said. Balagopal is survived by wife and a son. Several human rights activists and political leaders condoled the activist's death.