Sher Singh Rana Explained

Sher Singh Rana
Trial End:24 October 2016
Trial Start:January 2012
Weapon:Pistol
Fatalities:1
Victims:Phoolan Devi
Criminal Charge:Assassination
Escape from Jail
Birth Name:Pankaj Singh Pundir[1]
Birth Date:17 May 1976
Birth Place:Roorkee, Uttarakhand
Other Names:S. Rana
Occupation:Politician
Organization:R. J. P. (Rashtravadi Janlok Party)
Spouse:Pratima Singh

Pankaj Singh Pundir (born 17 May 1976), popularly known as Sher Singh Rana or S. Rana, is an Indian politician[2] who was sentenced for the 2001 vendetta-related assassination of Indian dacoit-turned-parliamentarian Phoolan Devi.[3] In August 2014, Rana was sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of ₹100,000 (approximately US$1,600) for Devi's assassination, as well as charges of conspiracy, after a 10-year trial.[4]

Early life

Sher Singh Rana was born as Pankaj Singh Pundir in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India on 17 May 1976.[5]

Phoolan Devi assassination

Rana, along with two other men, murdered Phoolan Devi outside her home in New Delhi in July 2001. At the time of her assassination, ex-dacoit Phoolan Devi was a sitting Member of Parliament in the 13th Lok Sabha.[6] Rana claims he was motivated to take revenge upon her for her actions as a leader of a bandit gang that acted primarily against the higher castes in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Rana was arrested and confessed to the murder.[7] [8]

Escape from Tihar jail

Rana re-escaped from Tihar jail, a high-security prison facility in Delhi, on 17 February 2004 with the help of his friend Sandeep, who in the guise of a policeman pretended to take Rana to a Haridwar court.[9] He went to Moradabad and checked into a hotel. He then contacted relatives who sent him ₹1 lakh through Sandeep. From Ranchi he applied for a passport in the name of Sanjay Gupta.[10]

During the two-month wait for the passport, he visited Gaya and Benaras, where he met his "financer" Subhash Thakur, who was then lodged in a local jail. Rana then went to Kolkata, where he obtained a three-month Bangladesh visa.[11] Rana claimed that he took a house for rent at Khulna and lived there, posing as Sanjay. After he fled to Bangladesh, he bought a satellite phone for ₹16,500 so that he could contact his relatives and friends without being tracked.[12] Throughout his journey — from Moradabad to Ranchi, Kolkata, Bangladesh and Dubai to Afghanistan, - he kept getting about ₹15,000 to ₹20,000 per month as personal expense allegedly from the accomplices of an Uttar Pradesh-based criminal Subhash Thakur. He visited Kolkata often to get his visa extended. At times, he did this in Dhaka.[13]

Claims of bringing back remains of Prithviraj Chauhan

In his statement given to police during his arrest, he claimed to have brought the remains of 11th century Hindu Rajput ruler Prithviraj Chauhan from Kandahar. Rana made claims to have built a memorial of the king in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh too, and Kanpur police found the claims to be true. Only a foundation stone for a temple existed there.[14]

Re-arrest

On 25 April 2006 he was re-arrested from Kolkata by SIT, who tracked him down by his subscription to a Hindi newspaper, one of the few people in the Dharmatala area who did so.[15] [16]

Release

A trial court in January 2012 allowed Sher Singh Rana, to file his nomination papers from Tihar to contest Uttar Pradesh assembly election.[17] The Delhi High Court has granted bail to Sher Singh Rana and he was released on 24 October 2016.[18]

Afterwards

He married with Pratima Singh on 28 February 2018, who is the daughter of former Member of Legislative Assembly from Madhya Pradesh, Rana Pratap Singh in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh by taking a shagun of Rs. 51.[19] [20] In the year 2019, he formed his own political party, Rashtravadi Janlok Party (RJP).[21]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Bandit Queen murder suspect escapes from jail. The Guardian. 18 February 2004 . 3 December 2020. Wright . George .
  2. Web site: Sharma . Unnati . 2022-04-04 . Phoolan murder, jailbreak, 'Prithviraj's ashes': Life of Sher Singh Rana, coming soon as biopic . 2022-11-15 . ThePrint . en-US.
  3. News: 25 April 2006. Phoolan Devi's killer arrested in Kolkata. https://web.archive.org/web/20131203012019/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2006-04-25/india/27798096_1_phoolan-devi-bandit-turned-politician-sher-singh-rana. dead. 3 December 2013. The Times of India. 1 December 2013.
  4. News: 14 August 2014. Killer of Phoolan Devi, India's 'Bandit Queen', given life sentence. The Guardian. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201023060740/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/14/sher-singh-rana-murderer-phoolan-devi-bandit-queen-life-sentence. 23 October 2020.
  5. Web site: कौन है फूलन का क़ातिल शेर सिंह राणा. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191203041900/https://www.bbc.com/hindi/india/2014/08/140814_sher_singh_rana_dil. 3 December 2019. 21 July 2020. BBC News हिंदी. 14 August 2014 . hi.
  6. Web site: 2022-03-30 . Who Is Sher Singh Rana? Know The Real Story Of Phoolan Devi's Assassin Here . 2024-01-07 . Jagranjosh.com . en.
  7. News: 27 July 2001. Man arrested for murder of 'Bandit Queen'. The Telegraph. London. live. 9 August 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20191212140847/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1335484/Man-arrested-for-murder-of-Bandit-Queen.html. 12 December 2019.
  8. News: 27 July 2001. Profile of Sher Singh Rana. Times of India. live. 9 August 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20190426132452/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Profile-of-Sher-Singh-Rana/articleshow/1154821372.cms. 26 April 2019.
  9. Web site: Raj Shekhar. Aug 9, 2014. How Phoolan's killer Rana just walked out of jail with fake cop Delhi News - Times of India. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201111212444/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/How-Phoolans-killer-Rana-just-walked-out-of-jail-with-fake-cop/articleshow/39903726.cms. 11 November 2020. 3 December 2020. The Times of India. en.
  10. Web site: Daniyal. Abhishek Dey & Shoaib. Dalit man's death in UP puts spotlight on Phoolan Devi's killer and his rise as a Thakur icon. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20190511065233/https://scroll.in/article/879367/how-phoolan-devis-killer-escaped-from-tihar-jail-went-to-afghanistan-and-became-a-rajput-hero. 11 May 2019. 3 December 2020. Scroll.in. 22 May 2018 . en-US.
  11. Web site: Tihar goes hi-tech to prevent Sher Singh Rana style escape. 3 December 2020. www.outlookindia.com.
  12. Web site: Tihar jailbreak: Fake cop held. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150701195903/http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/feb/29phoo.htm. 1 July 2015. 3 December 2020. www.rediff.com.
  13. Web site: 9 December 2007. Tihar break case: Two get lighter term. 3 December 2020. Hindustan Times. en.
  14. Web site: 26 April 2006. Indiana Jones of Etawah. 3 December 2020. Hindustan Times. en.
  15. Web site: 9 August 2014. Hindi newspaper subscription gave Rana away in Kolkata, say police. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160309043049/http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/hindi-newspaper-subscription-gave-rana-away-in-kolkata-say-police/. 9 March 2016. 3 December 2020. The Indian Express. en.
  16. Web site: 25 April 2006. Phoolan murder accused arrested in Kolkata. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201203044547/https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-phoolan-murder-accused-arrested-in-kolkata-1025995. 3 December 2020. 3 December 2020. DNA India. en.
  17. News: Phoolan 'killer' to fight UP polls from Tihar . https://archive.today/20130706143006/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-01-25/delhi/30662667_1_phoolan-devi-nomination-papers-phoolan-killer . dead . 6 July 2013 . . 25 January 2012.
  18. Web site: Sher Singh Rana Gets Bail In Phoolan Devi Murder Case. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20190823103221/https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/sher-singh-rana-gets-bail-in-phoolan-devi-murder-case-1477819. 23 August 2019. 3 December 2020. NDTV.com.
  19. Web site: 20 February 2018. दहेज में 10 करोड़ की प्रॉपर्टी लेने से किया इनकार, चर्चा में है इस शख्स की शादी. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201203042617/https://www.bhaskar.com/UT-DEL-HMU-NEW-LCL-marriage-of-phoolan-devi-murderer-sher-singh-rana-5816616-PHO.html/. 3 December 2020. 3 December 2020. Dainik Bhaskar. hi.
  20. Web site: Tapan Susheel. Feb 21, 2018. Sher Singh Rana: Sher Singh Rana, convicted of Phoolan Devi's murder, gets married Dehradun News - Times of India. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201203042551/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/dehradun/-sher-singh-rana-convicted-of-phoolan-devis-murder-gets-married/articleshow/63003156.cms. 3 December 2020. 3 December 2020. The Times of India. en.
  21. Web site: Sher Singh Rana, key accused in Phoolan Devi murder case, joins hands with UKD to contest Delhi polls. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200120123503/https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2020/jan/19/sher-singh-rana-key-accused-in-phoolan-devi-murder-case-joins-hands-with-ukd-to-contest-delhi-poll-2091650.html. 20 January 2020. 3 December 2020. The New Indian Express. 19 January 2020 .

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