Kanu Sanyal, one of the founders of the Maoist movement in India [Images], committed suicide on Tuesday. The veteran leader hanged himself in his village home in North Bengal. He was 78.

Sanyal had reportedly been suffering from a heart problem since the last few years, and could not bear the pain any more.

Close family sources told rediff.com, "He had grown disillusioned with the Naxal movement, especially after Maoists started killing poor farmers under the guise of the movement."

Born in 1932, Sanyal was one of the founding leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) formed in 1969.

Image: Top Maoist leader Kanu Sanyal