One of the first woman journalists, Rekha Duggal, burnt to death by servant in Delhi

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July 9, 2014

Rekha DuggalNew Delhi, Jul 9: One of the first woman journalists, Rekha Duggal, was allegedly murdered by her domestic help at her Greater Kailash-II residence here on Monday night. She was 81.

According to the police, Duggal was allegedly strangulated by the help, Neeraj, who later set her body on fire to prevent it from being identified.

The 81-year-old widow of a former journalist with a reputed news agency was found burnt to death inside her flat here in Delhi, police said on Tuesday. The victim's servant has been arrested for the suspected murder.

Rekha Duggal's body was recovered around 9.30 p.m. on Monday from the second-floor flat of her four-storey building in south Delhi's posh Greater Kailash area.

Duggal's younger sister and son-in-law along with the accused servant Neeraj, in his 20s, found her body.

The woman's son-in-law, Manmohan, also a former journalist, said, "My wife got a call from a neighbour, Saroj Prakash, around 9 p.m. on Monday that her mother (Duggal) was missing."

"We reached the house and found her body from the second floor. When we entered the floor, it was full of smoke and my mother-in-law's body was burning in the bedroom."

"We made a call to the fire service, and firefighters took out the body. In the meantime, police also reached there," Manmohan said.

"Duggal's post-mortem examination report revealed that she was strangulated with a dupatta, beaten up and later set on fire," said a police official.

The officer said the servant, Neeraj, who was employed seven months ago at Duggal's home, has been arrested but police were yet to find out his motive.

An investigating officer said the victim, as per initial information, would go for a walk around 6 p.m. and come back around 7 p.m.

A reason for the servant's arrest was that the woman was staying alone in the flat along with him, the police official said.

Rekha Duggal, whose husband K.K. Duggal - a journalist with the UNI news agency - died in 2005, was staying on the first floor of her house, which she had gifted to her elder sister residing in the US.

The second floor was gifted to her younger sister while the third and the fourth floors were given on rent to other people.

Duggal hailed from pre-independence Pakistan's Gujranwala area. She later shifted to Karnal in Haryana.

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Agencies
January 16,2020

Cuttack, Jan 16: At least 15 passengers were injured as five coaches of the Mumbai-Bhubaneswar Lokmanya Tilak Express derailed and three more were displaced after colliding with a goods train amid heavy fog near Cuttack in Odisha on Thursday, railway officials said.

Railway officials had earlier said that 25 passengers were injured in the incident but later officers who reached the site reported that four passengers were found to have suffered major injuries and 11 had received minor injuries.

Passengers with major injuries have been sent to Cuttack Medical College. All passengers are stated to be out of danger.

Officials said the accident happened when the passenger train hit the guard van of a good train around 7 am between Salagaon and Nergundi stations.

The officials said there was heavy fog at the site but it was not clear what led to the accident. The speedometer of both the trains have been seized for inquiry, East Coast Railway Spokesperson J P Mishra said.

Buses have been arranged for all remaining passengers to move towards their destination.

Cuttack is around 10-12 km away and Bhubaneswar(Terminating station) is 35 km.

The accident disrupted train services in the area.

Five trains have been affected due to the accident where restoration work in underway. These include the Bhubaneswar-Mumbai LTT SF Express, the Puri-Rourkela Express, Dhanbad-Bhubaneshwar Rajyarani Express which have all been diverted via Naraj.

"East Coast Railway acknowledges with deep gratitude help of nearby locals and villagers who have displayed great humanitarian values and come to the rescue of injured passengers," Mishra said.

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Agencies
January 21,2020

Tengnoupal, Jan 21: A woman IPS officer has alleged that a rifleman of Assam Rifles physically assaulted and molested her at a check post near Moreh town in Manipur's Tengnoupal district, police said on Tuesday.

Based on a written complaint of the IPS officer, an FIR has been registered against rifleman P K Pandey and a summon has been issued to him to appear before the concerned police station, the police said.

Manipur DGP L M Khaute told reporters on Monday, "We have made contacts with the Assam Rifles authorities. A complaint has been lodged by the officer." In her complaint, the IPS officer said that on reaching Khudengtabi check post on Sunday afternoon one of her escorts, who was not in uniform, told the frisking party of Assam Rifles to register their entry.

Despite showing their identity cards, the rifleman allegedly detained them, she said.

"We offered to search ourselves and the vehicle, but he was not interested", she said.

The rifleman began hitting the official vehicle and "misbehaved, humiliated, harassed and assaulted me and my escort personnel," she alleged.

The IPS officer also alleged that the rifleman molested her and when her escorts tried to intervene, he thrashed them.

She further accused the rifleman of making "sexually coloured" remarks against her, using abusive language and even tried to snatch her phone when she tried to call her senior officers.

The issue was brought under control after the matter was reported to the Brigadier of 26th Assam Rifles and the Major of the D-company of 12th AR, police said.

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Agencies
February 23,2020

Panaji, Feb 23: A MiG-29K aircraft crashed off Goa during a routine training sortie on Sunday morning, the Indian Navy said in a statement.

"The pilot ejected safely and has been recovered. An enquiry into the incident has been ordered," the statement said.

On November 16, a MiG-29K trainer flight had crashed after a bird hit, soon after it took off the Dabolim International airport, which functions out of the Indian Navy base INS Hansa.

Both pilots had managed to safely eject themselves to safety after both the engines of their jet failed.

According to data tabled in the recent budget session of the Goa Assembly, every ten days, at least one aircraft landing or taking off at Goa's Dabolim international airport faces dangers involving birds or stray dogs near the runway.

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