September 11, 2020: Social activist and Arya Samaj leader Swami Agnivesh passed away Friday at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences in New Delhi. He was 80.

He had been suffering from liver cirrhosis and was put on ventilatory support on Tuesday due to multiple organ failure.

"On Friday, his condition deteriorated and he went into cardiac arrest at 6:00 PM. Resuscitation was attempted but the stalwart passed away at 6:30 PM. ILBS joins the country in mourning the loss of this beloved leader," the hospital said in a statement.

The mortal remains of Swami Agnivesh will be kept at his Jantar Mantar residence from 11 am to 2 pm for Antim Darshan. The last rites will take place in Gurugram at 4 pm on Saturday.

A social activist and a religious leader who fought against bonded labour, news of Swami Agnivesh's death was greeted with shock and sorrow, with Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, senior lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi among those who tweeted.

Swami Angnivesh was in last in news in 2018 for being heckled several times by the workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). The right-wing outfits were upset with Agnivesh due to his alleged support to Christian missionaries in Jharkhand and his comments on the beef controversy.