Main accused in Phoolan Devi's killing convicted

New Delhi, Aug 8: A court here Friday convicted prime accused Sher Singh Rana for killing bandit-turned-politician Phoolan Devi in 2001.

Additional Sessions Judge Bharat Parashar convicted Sher Singh Rana who gunned down Phoolan Devi to avenge the 1981 Behmai massacre in which the then bandit queen killed 17 people of Thakur community.

Phoolan Devi, then Samajwadi Party MP from Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh, was shot dead July 25, 2001, outside her residence at Ashoka Road by Rana and his associates, said police.

Besides Rana, there were 11 other accused in the case. One of them, Pradeep, died of a heart attack in Tihar Jail in November 2013 and rest were set free by the court Friday.

Rana was arrested July 27, 2001. However, in 2004, he fled from Tihar Jail.

In 2006, he was arrested from Kolkata and brought back here and lodged in the high-security prison.

IANS