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Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow
The role of Uma Kashyap in the sensational murder of Phoolan Devi has become the key subject of the current probe.
The antecedents of the 35-year-old Roorkee-based woman and her close connection with not only Sher Singh Rana, alias Pankaj, but also Phoolan's husband Umed Singh, had aroused suspicion about her role in the entire episode.
Pankaj was arrested by the Uttaranchal police in Dehradun earlier on Friday, while on his way to address a press conference, ostensibly to own up the crime.
Notwithstanding the much emphasised claims of Samajwadi Party spokesman Amar Singh that Uma was not a member of his party, sources in Roorkee confirmed that she was always seen hobnobbing with SP leaders.
"She even contested the last municipal election with the support of the Samajwadi Party," said a local politician.
Officials were, however, tight-lipped about the political affiliations of both Uma and Pankaj.
"We did not probe their political connections," Uttaranchal police chief A K Sharan told rediff.com over telephone.
However, Sharan had gathered enough evidence on the close nexus between Pankaj and Uma, whose husband Vijay Kashyap was a class IV employee in the Roorkee municipality.
"Both nurtured political ambitions and were looking for the right connections to take them to their desired destinations," he said.
Uma was believed to have first come in contact with Phoolan about four years ago after the former bandit queen lost the parliamentary election from Mirzapur and decided to float her own non-political outfit Eklavya Sena.
Since both belonged to the mallah (boatmen) community, they stuck a rapport and Phoolan appointed Uma as the head of the Roorkee unit of the Eklavya Sena.
A go-getter, Uma also established a good rapport with Phoolan's husband Umed Singh, who had by then earned the reputation of a wily wheeler-dealer.
It was Umed Singh's indulgence and his habit of name-dropping that led to differences between him and Phoolan, who virtually separated herself from him.
Uma's importance in Roorkee rose after Phoolan got re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1999. She shut down her beauty parlour that was otherwise her key source of income and began undertaking 'liaison jobs, sources said.
"That is how Pankaj came in contact with her sometime towards the beginning of 2000 and soon they became quite friendly," said a Roorkee police official.
"Uma Kashyap would make it a point to visit Phoolan Devi often in New Delhi," the official confirmed.
Of late, Pankaj was understood to have frequently accompanied Uma to Phoolan's house.
On Wednesday morning, it was in Pankaj's car that Phoolan went to Parliament.
RELATED REPORT Police skeptical about Pankaj's claims
Phoolan Devi Murder: The Complete Coverage
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