Opinion October 27, Forty years ago: Ban on Thackeray

A portion of jewellery, estimated to be worth Rs 1 crore, which was lost from the Mughal harem immediately after the 1857 mutiny was recovered by the Calcutta police. Zeenat Mahal, the begum of the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, had given the jewellery to a eunuch, Noor Mohammed, to deposit it with one of her cousins in Murshidabad. On his way to Murshidabad, Mohammed was murdered by a gang of dacoits who fled with the jewellery. After passing through several hands, the jewellery finally came into the hands of a man of West Bengal, a police officer said. The officer added that they had not been able to recover even one thousandth of the jewellery. Some of the descendents of the emperor were in the city and a few of them worked as tailors, the officer said.

Oil in Arunachal

Oil was discovered in Arunachal Pradesh at a depth of 2850 metres by Oil India Ltd, a joint enterprise of the government of India and Burmah Oil Company, a report said. The oil well was said to be one of the best discoveries in eastern India. The well could produce 1500 barrels of oil a day, according to preliminary tests and indications.

Stampede for saris

At least 18 persons, including 17 women and a 13-year-old boy, were crushed to death on the spot in a stampede at a school in Madurai where tokens for gift saris to poor women for Diwali were to be distributed by a charitable trust. All the women, dead and injured, were aged 40 and above.