October 31, 1984

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated today by two gunmen who opened fire on her near her home. Mrs. Gandhi, the dominant figure in Indian politics for nearly two decades, died less than four hours after undergoing emergency surgery at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences for between 8 and 16 bullet wounds in the abdomen and thigh. She was 66 years old. The Press Trust of India reported that the Prime Minister was gunned down by two members of her own security guard armed with a revolver and submachine gun as she walked from her residence to her office at 9:40 A.M. (11:10 P.M., Tuesday, Eastern standard time). The Press Trust report said the two assailants were members of the Sikh religion and had been captured.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1984 International The body of a missing Polish priest was found by police frogmen in a Vistula River reservoir 11 days after he was kidnapped by three officers of the state security police, the Polish Government announced. Lech Walesa, the founder of Solidarity, appealed for calm, and there were no reports of disturbances after the announcement that the pro-Solidarity priest, the Rev. Jerzy Popieluszko, had been murdered and his body recovered. (Page A1, Columns 3-4.) OPEC agreed on a general formula to distribute cuts in oil production among its 13 member countries in the organization's effort to bolster sagging prices. But industry analysts said the action was unlikely to change oil prices or output in the immediate future. (A1:5.)

There were jack-o'-lanterns in the windows and witches on the bulletin board at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic School in Ozone Park, Queens, yesterday. But in the auditorium it was definitely Christmas. The choir sang a medley of carols, and speakers talked about the spirit of the holiday season. And leaning against an easel on stage was a picture of a plump, jolly, red-suited Santa Claus - ridged around the edges, branded with a 20-cent mark and issued yesterday by the United States Postal Service as the 1984 contemporary Christmas stamp design.

A Presidential commission yesterday called for new Federal laws to curb what it termed the widespread use of financial institutions to disguise illegally gained money and make it easier to use. In a report issued in New York, the Commission on Organized Crime said a new national strategy was needed to combat the practice of laundering illicit money to make it appear legitimate, often through transferring it out of the country and back again. The commission attacked American financial institutions as failing to cooperate with law-enforcement agencies and said officials of banks, brokerage houses and casinos had been drawn into laundering schemes, often unwittingly, but sometimes knowingly for a share of the profits. The report said that in some cases banking officials were bribed to look the other way. More frequently, officials said, bankers did not question large cash deposits, anticipating profit to the bank through temporary investment or because of fear of becoming involved in a criminal proceeding.

New York State's highest court ruled yesterday that a person may be deemed legally dead when the brain has ceased to function, even if the heartbeat and breathing are being maintained by artificial means. The decision, by the State Court of Appeals, marks the court's most extensive attempt to define the moment and mechanism of death in light of recent medical advances. With it, New York joins 37 other states that by statute or court decision have expanded the traditional definition of death - that is, when the heart and lungs stop functioning - to include the functioning of the brain. The court's unanimous decision, written by Chief Judge Lawrence H. Cooke, upheld manslaughter convictions in two shotgun deaths. It was hailed by law enforcement officials, who said it helped clarify the law and would encourage organ transplants.