Sher Singh Rana

Pankaj Singh (Hindi pronunciation: [sher sinh raana];born (1976-05-17)May 17, 1976)is a criminal who was sentenced for the 2001 vendetta-related assassination of Indian dacoit-turned-parliamentarian Phoolan Devi.[2] 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.[3]

Sher Singh Rana
Born
Pankaj Singh[1]

(1976-05-17) May 17, 1976
Roorkee, Uttar Pradesh (now in Uttarakhand), India
NationalityIndian
Citizenship India
OrganizationRJP (Rashtravadi Janlok Party)
Known forMurder of Phoolan Devi and escape from Tihar Jail of New Delhi.
Notable work
Bringing back the death remains of Hindu ruler, Prithviraj Chauhan from Taliban ruled Afghanistan.
Criminal statusBail granted in 2016
Spouse(s)Pratima Singh
Parent(s)Satyawati Rana
Criminal chargeMurder
Escape from Jail
PenaltyLife imprisonment
Details
VictimsPhoolan Devi
Killed1
WeaponPistol

Early life

Sher Singh Rana was born as Pankaj Singh in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India on May 17, 1976.[4]

Phoolan Devi assassination

Rana, along with two other men, murdered Phoolan Devi outside her home in New Delhi. At the time of her assassination, Phoolan Devi was a sitting Member of Parliament in the 13th Lok Sabha. 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.[5][6]

Escape from Tihar Jail

Rana reportedly said that after escaping from the jail on 17 February 2004 with the help of a friend Sandeep, who in the guise of a policeman pretended to take Rana to a Hardwar court.[7] 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.[8]

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.[9] 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.[10] Throughout his journey — from Moradabad to Ranchi, Kolkata, Bangladesh and Dubai to Afghanistan,[8] - 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.[11]

Abscondence and controversies

Later, he illegally travelled from Dhaka to Dubai. He was later glorified by the Hindu Kshatriya Sena.[12]

Bringing back of remains of Prithviraj Chauhan

In his statement given to police during his arrest, he claimed to have brought the remains of 11th century, Hindu ruler Prithviraj Chauhan from Kandahar. However; this claim was refuted by the media.[13]

Re-arrest

On 2006 April 25 he was re-arrested from Kolkata by SIT as a suspect buying Hindi newspaper.[14][15]

Release

A trial court in January 2012 allowed Sher Singh Rana, to file his nomination papers from Tihar to contest Uttar Pradesh assembly election.[16] The Delhi High Court has granted bail to Sher Singh Rana and he was released on 24 October 2016.[17]

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.[18][19] In the year 2019, he formed his own political party, Rashtravadi Janlok Party(RJP).[20]

References
  1. "Bandit Queen murder suspect escapes from jail". Gaurdians.com. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  2. "Phoolan Devi's killer arrested in Kolkata". The Times Of India. 25 April 2006. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  3. "Killer of Phoolan Devi, India's 'Bandit Queen', given life sentence". The Guardian. 14 August 2014. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020.
  4. "कौन है फूलन का क़ातिल शेर सिंह राणा". BBC News हिंदी (in Hindi). Archived from the original on 10 December 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  5. "Man arrested for murder of 'Bandit Queen'". The Telegraph. London. 27 July 2001. Archived from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  6. "Profile of Sher Singh Rana". Times of India. 27 July 2001. Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  7. Aug 9, Raj Shekhar / TNN / Updated; 2014; Ist, 05:47. "How Phoolan's killer Rana just walked out of jail with fake cop | Delhi News - Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2020.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. Daniyal, Abhishek Dey & Shoaib. "Dalit man's death in UP puts spotlight on Phoolan Devi's killer and his rise as a Thakur icon". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 14 March 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  9. "Tihar goes hi-tech to prevent Sher Singh Rana style escape". www.outlookindia.com. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  10. "Tihar jailbreak: Fake cop held". www.rediff.com. Archived from the original on 1 July 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  11. "Tihar break case: Two get lighter term". Hindustan Times. 9 December 2007. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  12. Pandey, Sidharth (8 August 2014). "Phoolan Devi Murder Case: Main Accused Sher Singh Rana Found Guilty". NDTV. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  13. "Indiana Jones of Etawah". Hindustan Times. 26 April 2006. Retrieved 3 December 2020. SHER SINGH Rana, the prime accused in the Phoolan Devi murder case, seems to have got into the habit of crying out Rajput honour every time he lands in jail. And his claims are getting outlandish by the day.
  14. "Hindi newspaper subscription gave Rana away in Kolkata, say police". The Indian Express. 9 August 2014. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  15. "Phoolan murder accused arrested in Kolkata". DNA India. 25 April 2006. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  16. "Phoolan 'killer' to fight UP polls from Tihar". The Times Of India. 25 January 2012.
  17. "Sher Singh Rana Gets Bail In Phoolan Devi Murder Case". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 10 August 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  18. "दहेज में 10 करोड़ की प्रॉपर्टी लेने से किया इनकार, चर्चा में है इस शख्स की शादी". Dainik Bhaskar (in Hindi). 20 February 2018. Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  19. Feb 21, Tapan Susheel / TNN / Updated; 2018; Ist, 11:52. "Sher Singh Rana: Sher Singh Rana, convicted of Phoolan Devi's murder, gets married | Dehradun News - Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2020.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  20. "Sher Singh Rana, key accused in Phoolan Devi murder case, joins hands with UKD to contest Delhi polls". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
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