Hyderabad, Nov. 21 -- Renowned Telugu poet, journalist, scriptwriter and Central Sahitya Akademi award winner Sheik Khaja Hussain, popularly known as Devi Priya, died of brief illness in Hyderabad on Saturday, his family members said. He was 69 and is survived by two sons.

He was suffering from severe diabetes and had undergone amputation of his left leg on November 9 because of gangrene early this month. He later developed sepsis and had been on ventilator for the last two days. He breathed his last at Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences at around 7.10 am.

Born on August 15, 1951, at Tadikonda of Andhra Pradesh, Devi Priya worked as a journalist with popular Telugu dailies like Udayam, Andhra Prabha and Hyderabad Mirror, besides Engl...