KOZHIKODE: Former Popular Front of India chairman and national treasurer KM Shareef (56) passed away on Tuesday. He was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Mangaluru.

A native of Mangaluru, Shareef had served as the Vice Chairman and General Secretary of the Popular Front. He was the first President of the Karnataka Forum for Dignity.

Shareef was also the founder and editor-in-chief of the Kannada magazine 'Prastutha'. He had translated several books from Malayalam into Kannada.

Shareef is survived by wife Fathima and five children.