Behmai massacre accused Posa dies after prolonged illness

Kanpur, April 11

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An octogenarian, who was an accused in the 1981 Behmai massacre in which 20 people were shot dead by dacoit Phoolan Devi and her gang, died here following prolonged illness, a senior jail official said Tuesday.

Posa, who was brought to Kanpur Dehat district jail in December 2016, died on Monday night. He was suffering from chronic tuberculosis (TB), the official said.

DG (Prison) Satya Narain Sabat said Posa was initially admitted to the jail hospital and then shifted to the district hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

Instructions have been issued to officials to inform Posa’s family in Jalaun and hand over the body to them after a post-mortem examination, the DG added.

A court granted bail to Posa four years ago but he could not come out of jail as he failed to furnish his sureties, said another official.

He was the only dacoit from the gang who was lodged in jail.

On February 14, 1981, Phoolan Devi and her gang members killed 20 men in Behmai village to avenge her rape by upper caste men. Seventeen of the dead were Thakurs, the dominant caste in the village.

In the years following the massacre, Phoolan Devi surrendered and became an MP.

She was killed outside her official residence in New Delhi on July 25, 2001.

Of the 23 accused in the Behmai case, 18 are no more, while three are absconding and two — Shyambabu and Vishwanath — are out of jail on bail.