Veteran journalist Vinod Dua passes away at 67

NEW DELHI, (ANI): Vinod Dua, a veteran journalist and father of comedian Mallika Dua, passed away on Saturday at the age of 67.

The news was confirmed by Mallika on her Instagram stories where she shared a picture of her late father and along with it penned, “Our irreverent, fearless and extraordinary father, Vinod Dua has passed away. He lived an inimitable life, rising from the refugee colonies of Delhi to the peak of journalistic excellence for over 42 years, always, always speaking truth to power.”

“He is now with our mom, his beloved wife Chinna in heaven where they will continue to sing, cook, travel and drive each other up the wall,” she continued.

Mallika also informed about her father’s cremation ceremony by adding, “The cremation will take place tomorrow (5.12.21) at Lodhi crematorium at 12 noon.”

Less than a week ago, Mallika had posted that her father was admitted to the ICU after his health took a turn for the worst. She had also rubbished rumours regarding his death, which at the time had started to make the rounds.

The 67-year-old journalist, who was a pioneer in broadcast Hindi journalism with stints in Doordarshan and NDTV had lost his wife and Mallika’s mother, Padmavati Dua, aka Chinna Dua, to COVID-19 in June. She was a radiologist.

Vinod and Padmavati were admitted to a hospital in May after testing positive for the deadly virus. His health has reportedly suffered ever since and he had been in and out of hospitals. (ANI)