Man accused in bandit queen murder in custody

The man accused of murdering Phoolan Devi, India's famed "bandit queen" and MP, was remanded in custody for 10 days today after…

The man accused of murdering Phoolan Devi, India's famed "bandit queen" and MP, was remanded in custody for 10 days today after a brief court appearance, the Press Trust of India(PTI) reported.

Sher Singh Rana, who was arrested yesterday in the northern city of Dehradun, had confessed to shooting Ms Devi aided by two accomplices.

Mr Rana is also suspected of driving the car used by the gunmen who shot Ms Devi outside her house in a high-security VIP residential area of New Delhi on Wednesday.

The accused was produced amid tight security in a packed court, PTI said.

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Prosecution counsel Irfan Ahmed asked for 14 days police custody on the grounds that police wanted to interrogate Mr Rana extensively, but the court remanded him only for 10 days.

The prosecution also said it had seized two pistols from the accused along with two mobile phones and four SIM cards.

The SIM cards were exhausted on the day of the murder indicating that the accused been talking to other people extensively after the killing, the prosecutor said.

India's Star TVquoted Dehradun police as saying Mr Rana had cited revenge for Ms Devi's alleged massacre of 22 high-caste Hindus in the village of Behmai in 1981 as the motive for killing the MP.

AFP