Jammu, Nov 14 (PTI) Veteran journalist Gopal Dass Sachar died on Monday evening after prolonged illness, his family said.He was 97.He had been ailing for the past six months and died at his residence in the Gandhinagar locality of Jammu around 5.30 pm, his grandson Saurabh said.He is survived by his son and an extended family of grandsons and granddaughters.His cremation will be conducted at Jogi gate on Tuesday at 1200 hours, Saurabh said.Gopal Sachar worked as the resident editor of Hind Samachar and Punjab Kesari group of newspapers in Jammu and Kashmir for past several decades.He was jailed several times during the Praja Parishad movement in Jammu during 1949-53. Union minister Jitendra Singh condoled his demise and said it is an irreparable loss to journalism. "Saddened by demise of Sh Gopal Sachar, veteran Journalist & a founding Bureau chief of Hind Samachar at Jammu", Singh said in a tweet.He said "I shared a life long personal & professional relationship with him. My sincere condolences to family as well as journalistic fraternity for whom he was a great asset".Former IAS officer K B Jandial, who served as director of information, condoled the demise of the veteran journalist. "My dearest friend, Shri Gopal Sachar, journalist Resident Editor Hind Samachar J&K edition passed away at his residence this evening. Over a month, he got a stroke". PTI AB AB TIR TIR