Troubled legacy

A family feud over Phoolan Devi's 'legacy' deepens the mystery surrounding her murder.

IN life, Phoolan Devi, the bandit-turned Samajwadi Party member of the Lok Sabha, defied easy explanation. In death too, she remains an enigma. The motive behind her murder, committed in broad daylight in the capital's high-security zone, continues to be a mystery, although the police claim to have caught all those involved in the plotting and carrying out of the murder of the MP from Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh. However, the ripples that the shooting created in national as well as Uttar Pradesh politics have died down with hardly anyone attributing political motives to the killing. In fact, S.P. leaders had initially held Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Home Minister L.K. Advani responsible for the shooting. What now unfolds in the place of political intrigue is an unsavoury family situation of greed, treachery and betrayal. The tussle is over Phoolan Devi's property, which is estimated to be worth around Rs.2.5 crores. One now wonders whether the murder was in some way related to her property.

The family drama came out in the open on the day Phoolan Devi's husband Umed Singh, himself under a cloud, called a press conference to announce the formation of a trust in her memory. Even as he began elaborating his plans for realising his late wife's "dreams" through the trust, her sisters and mother burst upon the scene, accusing Umed of trying to usurp the property by floating a trust of which he would have total control. They did not stop at that; they accused him of conspiring to kill Phoolan Devi as she had hinted at making out a will and leaving him out of it.

Speaking to Frontline, Phoolan's younger sister Munni Devi used strong words in levelling allegations against Umed Singh. She also said that he was being less than truthful in claiming that he did not know Pankaj, Uma and so on. Pankaj is the main accused in the case. He confessed to killing Phoolan Devi in retaliation for the Behmai massacre of 1981, in which Phoolan Devi, a bandit then, was accused of gunning down 20 Thakurs. Uma Kashyap was a political associate of Phoolan Devi and is the Uttaranchal president of Eklavya Sena, floated by Phoolan on the lines of the Dalit Sena of Ram Vilas Paswan. On the day of the killing, Uma Kashyap had come to Delhi from Roorkee in the car driven by Pankaj, which was later used by the killers to escape. Uma Kashyap's presence in Phoolan Devi's house when she was shot made her a prime suspect, and she has been under detention since then. It is no secret that Phoolan's marriage was on the rocks. The couple had moved for divorce twice but did not press the matter. This is also corroborated by her sisters. Munni Devi alleged that Phoolan Devi often complained that Umed used abusive language and even used to beat her. Even on the day she was killed he had abused her when she wanted to use her car to go to Parliament House, Munni told Frontline. "She was forced to go to Parliament in the assassin's car," she said. Munni Devi quoted Phoolan Devi as telling them: "Yeh to na bhaagta hai, na talaaq deta hai. Yeh hamein marwa dega." (This man does not go away, does not even agree for a divorce. He will get me killed one day).

Phoolan Devi's mother Moola Devi and her sisters and brother are of the opinion that Umed Singh married Phoolan only for money. He has already got the registration of her car transferred in his name. Some years ago, he took Rs.12 lakhs as loan from Phoolan Devi to construct a house for his first wife, and did not return the money," they said.

Phoolan's relatives thus picture Umed Singh as the villain of the piece, but he has a different tale to tell. According to him, the sisters and the mother were driven by pure greed and were making wild allegations. However, he was at a loss to explain the hurry in announcing the formation of the trust even before the terahvi (13th day) ritual was over. According to Phoolan's family members, the setting up of a project should not have been announced before terahvi. Besides, they said Umed had not discussed the composition of the trust with them.

On August 6, the supporters of Phoolan's sisters and mother and those of Umed Singh came to blows. The police had to intervene to separate the groups. An interesting development is that both Munni Devi and Umed Singh have started talking about "inheriting the legacy of Phoolan" from Mirzapur "if the people wanted them to." In other words, it is a request for the Lok Sabha ticket, and it would be interesting to watch who the S.P. leader Mulayam Singh Yadav would select as Phoolan Devi's political heir.