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August 07, 2001
1510 IST

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Umed Singh threatens legal action
against Phoolan's sister

Slain Samajwadi Party MP Phoolan Devi's husband Umed Singh on Tuesday threatened to take legal action against her sister Munni Devi for making 'defamatory' allegations against him.

"I have sent a legal notice to her. If she does not retract her statements and apologise in public, I will file a defamation case against her," Singh said at a press conference in Delhi.

Singh, accompanied by his lawyer and Harkul Singh, who claimed to be Phoolan Devi's uncle, alleged that Munni Devi was 'maligning my name due to greed for power and Phoolan's property'.

He slammed Munni Devi for "playing politics over her sister's death".

"She held a press conference at Uttar Pradesh Bhavan when I was still grieving over my wife's death," Singh said and added that he would not allow politics to be played over his wife's body.

"Munni Devi's allegations are false and baseless. When I decided to form a trust for Phoolan's property, she started making allegations against me," he said.

"Munni Devi is being incited by some politicians who are actually behind Phoolan's murder," Singh alleged.

He, however, refused to name anybody and said, "Investigations are on and we will soon come to know."

On Munni Devi's claim to the Mirzapur parliamentary constituency, Singh said, "I will contest elections from Mirzapur, if people there wished so."

Singh said he would join the party that supports the cause taken up by Phoolan Devi - 'betterment of backwards'- though he refused to single out any party.

Singh also dismissed question marks over the validity of his marriage with Phoolan Devi.

"I have a diplomatic passport, court marriage certificate and a Lok Sabha spouse pass. How did I get all these? My marriage with Phoolan Devi is my first and last marriage according to Hindu religion," Singh said.

He rubbished the claims of Puttilal being the first husband of Phoolan Devi and said, "Marriage of an 11-year-old girl is not legally valid."

Referring to Monday's fight in Phoolan's official residence on the occasion of the rites on the thirteenth day after her death, Singh said, "It is being done at the behest of these very politicians who want to project the murder as an internal feud and not a political conspiracy."

Singh said his life was under threat as 'demonstrated by Monday's incident'.

"On Monday, a man, who was later said to be insane, threatened me in front of my house. You can imagine what would have happened if he had a weapon," he said.

Phoolan Devi's Murder: Complete Coverage

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