Gautam Goswami, a 1991 batch IAS officer and a key accused in the Rs 170 million ($3.86 million) Bihar flood relief scam of 2004, died of pancreatic cancer at a private nursing home in Patna on Tuesday morning.

 Goswami, who was named Time magazine's Asian hero in 2005, had been battling cancer for the past several months. He had been shifted from Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) to the private nursing home on Saturday after his condition deteriorated further due to kidney impairment.

Goswami had caused quite a bit of stir when as District Magistrate in 2004 he asked senior BJP leader and then Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani to leave the dais during an election meeting at Patna midway for canvassing beyond the time limit set by the Election Commission.

Goswami, who is also an MBBS, was a resident of Dehri-on Sone in Bihar's Rohtas district was 41 and is survived by his doctor wife and two sons.