KOCHI: Noted Malayalam actor captain Raju passed away on Monday at his home. He was under treatment after suffering from a stroke in June. He was 68 years old. He was a former military officer as well. He was born on 27 June, 1950 at Omallur in Thiruvalla. After pursuing degree from Catholicate College in Pathanamthitta, Raju joined the Indian Army as an officer at the age of 21 and rose to the rank of a captain. He worked as marketing chief at glucose and starch manufacturing company, Lakshmi Starch, at Mumbai after serving 5 years of Indian army and later he left the job to act in films. He had acted in more than 500 films in various languages and was noted for his character roles.

His entry to the Malayalam industry was through the movie ‘Raktham’ (1981). Following the success of Athirathram and Nadodikkattu, Babu became one of the busiest actors in Malayalam. Adimakal Udamakal, Oru CBI diary kurippu, Oru vadakkan veeragatha, No.20 Madras mail, Daya, Udayapuram Sulthan and CID Moosa are some of the super hit films in which Babu portrayed notable roles. He was last seen in Masterpiece in 2017. He has also directed two movies Itha Oru Snehagatha in 1997 and Mr. Pavanayi 99.99 in 2012 which reprises his role ‘Pavanayi’ from the film Nadodikkattu.

He is survived by his wife Prameela and a son Ravi. The burial will take place after his son Ravi reaches from the US.