Nepali language novelist and Padma Shri awardee Leel Bahadur Chhetri passed away at his home in Guwahati at 10:30 on Thursday night.

Indian Nepali writers have said that an era of Nepali literature has ended with Chhetri's death.

Born in 1989 in Assam, India, his  'Basai' is a famous novel . He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1986 for 'Brahmaputra Ko Chheuchhau'. His stories and non-fictions such as 'Atrupta',  'Pritdhniru Bismritiko', 'Nepali Language in Assam', 'Three Decades and Twenty Expressions' have been published.

Chhetri, the creator of one and a half dozen works including novels, stories, essays, and reviews, received the Jagdamba Award in 2072 for his tireless contribution to language and literature from Nepal. He has a wife, two sons and a daughter . 

Chhetri's 'Basai' novel was first published in 2014 by Madan Puraskar Guthi. A film has also been made based on the story of the novel. 'Basai' has been translated into English by Michael Hutt and Larry Hartsell, while the novel 'Brahmaputraka Chheuchhau' has been translated into Assamese, Hindi and Bengali.