'Rana killed Phoolan to avenge 1981 Behmai massacre'

A senior police officer has told a Delhi court that prime accused Sher Singh Rana killed bandit-turned-politician Phoolan Devi to avenge the 1981 Behmai massacre in which she and her gang had murdered 17 people belonging to an upper caste.

"From the disclosure statement of the accused (Rana), the motive of offence was revealed to me that just to take a revenge, he killed her," Suresh Kaushik, a police inspector who is also the Investigating officer (IO) in the case, said.

Testifying as 170th witness in the nine-year-old trial, Kaushik said the accused wanted to become a "hero" in his community by avenging the killings of 17 men of the Thakur caste by the bandit-turned-politician in 1981 at Behmai.

The Samajwadi party MP was gunned down outside her 44, Ashoka Road residence here on July 25, 2001.

The witness, who had quizzed the accused just after the incident, told additional sessions judge SC Rajan that he had recovered two country-made pistols from the garage of Phoolan's official residence here.

Rana had also taken help from Roorkee-based lawyer Praveen Mittal, a co-accused, in creating a ground of alibi that he was in a Uttaranchal jail on the day of Phoolan's murder in Delhi, the police officer told the court.

The recording of evidence of the witness remained inconclusive and will continue on August 3, the next date of hearing.

Notably, a few of the prosecution witnesses, including Phoolan's sister Munni Devi and her private secretary Kalicharan, earlier turned hostile in the case.

According to the prosecution, Rana along with 11 others had allegedly conspired to kill Phoolan to avenge the Behmai massacre.

Besides Rana, other accused are -- Rajbir, Ravinder, Dharam Prakash, Sharwan, Vijay, Shekhar, Praveen Mittal, Amit Rathi, Vijay Rana, Pradeep and Surender.

They have been booked under penal provisions dealing with murder, attempt to murder, destruction of evidence, criminal conspiracy and procuring and using illegal firearms, for their varying roles in the offence.