Former greats, ministers, friends, well-wishers and family members bid farewell to three-time Olympic gold medallist Leslie Claudius as his mortal remains were laid to rest at the Lower Circular Road Cemetery on Sunday.
The final journey of Claudius began on Sunday morning from the Peace Haven. The body was taken to Customs Tent where his former teammate, Keshav Dutt of the 1948 and 1952 Olympic-winning team, laid a wreath.
Then the body was taken to Veteran’s Club and finally reached Rabindra Sadan where people of all walks paid their respect to the departed soul.
Among those who placed floral tributes were Bir Bahadur Chetri, Samar Banerjee, Subimal ‘Chuni’ Goswami and T. Balaram, among others.
State Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, who could not make it to the funeral, sent a wreath with a condolence message. Ministers Madan Mitra, Subrata Mukherjee and Javed Khan represented the State.
MP Derek O’Brien was also present. Former sports minister Kanti Ganguly too paid his homage.
The body was then taken to St. Paul’s Cathedral for a mass. Finally it was buried close to where his son Robert was laid to rest in 1978 following a road accident.
