Brief assignment turns final

By Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 30. The news about the death of four senior Delhi journalists and the personal secretary of Mr. Madhavrao Scindia was received with shock and horror here this afternoon. No one could really believe that what was to be a few hours' assignment would prove to be the last for all these dynamic personalities.

Most of the deceased had left their homes promising their families or friends that they would be back by sundown and then spend some time at home or go for an outing.

At the residence of the Hindustan Times special correspondent, Ms.Anju Sharma, her mother, Ms. Chander Sharma, wept inconsolably, unable to resign herself to the fact that her daughter, who had promised to take her out in the evening upon her return from Kanpur, was no more.

Anju's brother, Mr Rajnish Sharma, principal correspondent with Hindustan Times, was more composed as he went around making arrangements for his sister's arrival back home. For the family, the television news remained a major sources of information as, along with friends and relatives, they kept waiting for news on the arrival of the bodies to Delhi.

Ms.Anju Sharma (27), daughter of former Deputy General Manager (Production), Indian Express, the late T.R. Sharma, had been working with Hindustan Times since 1992 and had been promoted as a special correspondent a year ago.

The news of the tragic death of Sanjiv Sinha (35), special correspondent of The Indian Express, left his friend, Captain Rajesh Singh, in a state of deep shock for they had planned a dinner tonight. ``He has ditched me. I still hope it is not true. But now I have to make arrangements for the body's arrival. I fear to think what shape it would be in,'' said Mr Singh at the journalist's R.K. Puram residence.

Captain Singh informed that Sinha's father, Col (Retd.) R.P. Sinha, and mother would be reaching Delhi from Dehra Dun tomorrow while his brother, Mr Rajiv Sinha, an IFS officer at Kiev, would be flying in. Sanjiv Sinha, a History post graduate, had entered journalism after leaving Civil Allied Services seven years ago.

Ranjan Jha, who is survived by his wife, and two daughters, aged four and nine years, stayed at Ramprastha in Ghaziabad. Born in 1962 and a native of Bhagalpur, he had worked for two years at Dainik Hindustan in Patna and for five years with Dainik Jagran here. It was in 1995 that he joined the TV Today group as a special correspondent.

Cameraman Gopal Bisht of Aaj Tak had joined the group 10 years ago. A resident of Noida, he is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. Incidentally, Bisht had covered the prestigious Arjuna Awards ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan last evening.

At the Jeevan Nagar residence of Rupinder Singh, personal secretary to Mr. Scindia, the news of the crash came as a major shock. His mother, Ms Rajinder Kaur, broke down as she spoke of how her son had promised that he would return by 7 p.m.. ``Par ab woh kabhi nahin aayega (But now he will never come back),'' she cried.

Rupinder (41) had long been associated with the Indian Youth Congress. ``About two years ago he joined Mr. Scindia and was happy working with him,'' said his cousin, Ms Gurbir Kaur. Eldest of three siblings, Rupinder is survived by his father, Mr Virender Singh Chandok, brother, Mr Neetu Chandok, and sister, Ms Neena.

A budding politician, he had arranged at least three more meetings for the Congress in Uttar Pradesh and was also interacting on a regular basis with local Delhi politicians in connection with the forthcoming MCD polls.

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