New Delhi, Nov 20 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday mourned the death of veteran Congress leader and former minister B. Shankaranand, who headed the joint parliamentary probe into the $1.3 billion Bofors gun scandal.

Shankaranand died Thursday of cardiac arrest in a Karnataka hospital. He was 84.

In a condolence message to the bereaved family, Manmohan Singh said the nation has lost a leader 'whose contribution to the cause of the poor and the downtrodden will long be remembered'.

Shankaranand was elected to the Lok Sabha eight times consecutively from Chikkodi constituency in Belgaum district of Karnataka.