Sapna Book House founder Suresh Shah passes away

Shah, 84, was undergoing treatment in a private hospital at Seshadripuram where he breathed his last in the afternoon

Suresh C Shah, the founder of Sapna Book House, passed away due to age-related ailments on Tuesday. He was 84.

He died at Apollo Hospitals in Seshadripuram where he was admitted a few days ago. He is survived by sons Nitin Shah, Deepak Shah and Paresh Shah. The last rites will be held at the Harishchandra Ghat crematorium on Wednesday morning, family sources said.

Suresh Shah's family originally hailed from Gujarat. His father was a cotton broker in Mumbai.

Suresh Shah started working right from his high school days and later joined a distribution company which transferred him to Bengaluru for setting up a branch. He quit the job after some time and started his own venture — Sapna Book House — by renting a small shop in Gandhinagar in 1966. It eventually became the largest book store chain in India with 19 branches. Sapna took the lead in publishing the books of leading Kannada writers.

Several prominent personalities, including Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, have condoled his death.