Veteran journalist dead

Veteran journalist and freedom fighter Upendra Vajpiey died of cardiac arrest in a hospital in New Delhi on Sunday morning.

He was 86.

Vajpiey worked for a number of years as Bureau Chief of Lucknow-based Hindi daily

Aaj

. He later joined the

Hindustan Times

.

A freedom fighter, Vajpiey was imprisoned during the country's independence struggle.

Son of noted litterateur Ambika Prasad, he is survived by his widow Aruna, a former Deputy Director (Information) in Gujarat.