Mumbai, Oct 3: Veteran actor Ghanashyam Nayak, best known for his work as Nattu Kaka on the popular sitcom "Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah", passed away on Sunday after a long battle with cancer, producer Asit Kumarr Modi said.

The actor, who was in his late 70s, was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.

Modi, who is the creator of "Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah", said the actor's health deteriorated in the past few days.

"He passed away today evening. He wasn't keeping well for a long time. He had cancer. He always wanted to keep shooting. Even though he was unwell, work would always make him happy. I would look for opportunities to get him on the show. But it had become difficult for him to shoot. For the last two days he was extremely unwell," Modi told PTI.

Nayak appeared in nearly 100 Hindi and Gujarati films, apart from featuring on more than 300 TV serials.

The veteran actor was also known for his work in the Gujarati theatre.

Earlier this year, during his chemotherapy, Nayak had shot for a special episode of "Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah".

He is survived by his wife and three children.

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Faridabad (PTI): A man was arrested here on Tuesday for allegedly abducting a bank manager for a ransom of Rs 5 lakh, police said.

On April 21, two armed men, including Bhupender (30), kidnapped Satish Kumar from his house in Ballabgarh’s Sector 62. They took him to Himachal Pradesh and demanded a ransom of Rs 50 lakh from his family, they said.

Later, the accused negotiated with Satish's family and asked for Rs 5 lakh for his release. They asked his family to deposit Rs 1 lakh in Satish's account and withdrew the money from different places using his debit card, police said.

The kidnappers asked Satish’s wife to bring the remaining Rs 4 lakh Kelly bypass in Ballabgarh. Police then laid a trap and arrested Bhupender, they said.

Bhupendra revealed that he was a tenant in Satish's house and lived there about 4 months ago. He then hatched a plan with his friend Ravindra to kidnap the bank manager for ransom, a senior police officer said.

He told police that Satish was with Ravindra in Mathura. Following this, a team went there and rescued the victim but the other accused managed to flee, police said.

They said two pistols, three live cartridges, a rope, Satish's vehicle used for kidnapping him and Rs 4 lakh cash were recovered from the kidnappers.

“Our teams are conducting raids to nab Ravindra and others,” said Sube Singh, spokesperson of Faridabad police.