Three more arrested in 'Bandit Queen' murder

Phoolan Devi supporters protested what they said was slack security which contributed to her death

LUCKNOW, India -- Three men have been arrested in northern India in connection with the murder of "Bandit Queen" Phoolan Devi, the law breaker-turned-lawmaker gunned down in broad daylight last week.

Naresh Dayal, principal home secretary in the state of Uttar Pradesh, said Monday a car used for the gunmen's getaway was also seized from the suspects.

Last Friday, police arrested a suspect, Sher Singh Rana, who told reporters before being taken to New Delhi that he was guilty of the shooting.

"The initial interrogation of the three young men seemed to corroborate Rana's claims that he alone has masterminded the murder," Dayal told Reuters, referring to the three men who were arrested in the town of Saharanpur and then handed over to Delhi police.

"They did claim to have come to Saharanpur to surrender before the court there, but on getting a tip-off the local police nabbed them just outside the court premises."

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Phoolan Devi, who put behind her life as a bandit and became a parliamentarian, died in a hail of bullets outside her home in New Delhi last Wednesday.

She rose to notoriety in 1981 after the killing of 20 mostly upper-caste men in Uttar Pradesh.

She denied leading the massacre but said her career of crime was driven by the need to avenge a series of rapes she suffered at the hands of upper-caste men.

She surrendered, served 11 years in jail and was released on parole in 1994 after which she was twice elected to the lower house of parliament as a member of the Samajwadi Party.

Media reports said police were still trying to establish if Devi's murder was linked to the massacre or to political maneuvering ahead of legislative assembly elections which are due in Uttar Pradesh by next northern spring.

Either way, the question of caste -- the strict social hierarchy that has governed the lives of India's majority Hindu population for thousands of years -- appears to be the issue.

Political parties often woo voters en bloc by caste, particularly in Uttar Pradesh and other states of the northern Hindi heartland.

The Samajwadi Party has the support of many Muslims and a large section of lower castes, the Yadavs, but like its rivals it is seeking to win the votes of other low-caste groups.

Reuters contributed to this report.