It could be land, after all

new delhi: the delhi police is trying to verify if a 60-bigha plot purchased by phoolan devi, recently, was also at the root of the conspiracy that led to her assassination. the land near bhangel village near ghaziabad was purchased by phoolan a few months back. a lavish farmhouse is located at the spot now. sources said though the land was in phoolan s name, the farmhouse was allegedly under the possession of her husband, umed singh.besides this plot, phoolan had also purchased land in an industrial area in dadri. this plot is said to be located close to jk company s installation. the fact that phoolan s suspected assassins had gathered in ghaziabad after the incident, reportedly close to her newly-acquired property, has made the police suspect a property tussle. the police started exploring motives other than political rivalry. the police does not buy the prime suspect, sher singh rana alias pankaj s, claim entirely. rana had claimed he killed phoolan for avenging the behmai massacre. "if pankaj wanted to kill phoolan and her pso, he could have done that while he drove them to parliament annexe on july 25," said an investigator. the investigators are also probing whether it was a coincidence that one of phoolan s relatives was present at kashmere gate, where two of the assassins reportedly went after the crime. soon after the assassination, two assailants had reportedly gone to the kashmere gate inter-state bus terminal. one of their accomplice had stayed back in new delhi area. investigators said the assassins "gameplan appeared to have gone awry due to the survival of phoolan s pso, balinder singh. the pso not only survived the attack but also gave the physical description of one of them," said a police official. even as the police were trying to piece together the chain of events on the fateful day, there were indications that one of the assassins went to the hospital to inquire about phoolan s state. "this assassin would not have avoided public eye at the hospital had the pso died in the attack. his decision to go underground may have been influenced by the threat of getting identified by the pso," said an official.