M A I N   N E W S

Pankaj’s accomplices held
Umed meets PM, seeks probe
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 30
The crime branch of the Delhi police today arrested the three remaining suspects involved in the sensational slaying of Samajwadi Party MP Phoolan Devi from Saharanpur.

The trio, Ravinder, Rajbir and Shekhar, who had disappeared after the daylight shooting in the high-security New Delhi area, reportedly wanted to surrender in the court of the District and Sessions Judge in Saharanpur this morning. The three had been on the run since July 25 to evade the police.

The judge, however, told them that they could not surrender there as the matter was in the jurisdiction of the Delhi police. The trio also reportedly created a fracas in the courtroom and insisted that they wanted to surrender there only. They were subsequently taken into custody by a police party which was apparently waiting for them outside the courtroom.

The three are being brought here for further interrogation. While Ravinder and Rajbir had reportedly assisted Pankaj, alias Sher Singh Rana, in gunning down Phoolan Devi, Rajbir is alleged to have been waiting at a distance in a white Maruti which was supposed to be used as the getaway vehicle.

However, amidst the confusion, Rajbir is reported to have sped away separately, leaving his alleged accomplices to fend for themselves.

The police claimed to have recovered a country-made pistol which was reportedly used in the killing. The two other weapons which were recovered from the abandoned green Maruti, were not used in the shooting, initial reports suggest.

Besides, the police also claimed to have recovered the white Maruti (though it was displaying a different set of number plates), two mobile phones and two Sim cards along with chargers. The police believes that this seizure can provide clinching evidence to the killing and the conspiracy behind it, if any.

Meanwhile, the police continued to interrogate Pankaj, the main suspect who had earlier confessed to the killing to avenge the Behmai massacre, even though he was still under observation in Safdarjung Hospital.

Meanwhile, Umed Singh, husband of the slain Samajwadi Party MP, today met the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Union Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, demanding a high-level probe into the murder.

He claimed that the murder was the result of a “deep-rooted political conspiracy” and needed to be probed thoroughly to get to the bottom of it. He later told newspersons that the Prime Minister and the Home Minister gave him a patient hearing and assured him that all possible efforts would be made to apprehend the culprits.