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Thousands of Phoolan Devi's supporters came out in the streets in Mirzapur, her Lok Sabha constituency, on hearing of her assassination on Wednesday afternoon.
They blocked roads and damaged vehicles, as they went around asking shopkeepers to down shutters.
At Phoolan's Jamuni Pur Colony residence, people gathered in large numbers to mourn her death.
Expressing shock at the dastardly killing, district panchayat president Prabha Devi said: "It was Phoolan Devi who had inspired me to join politics."
The dacoit-turned-politician had won the 1999 Lok Sabha election from Mirzapur defeating her Bharatiya Janata Party rival by around 33,000 votes.
The district administration, meanwhile, has taken all precautionary measures to prevent any untoward incident. Superintendent of Police Avinash Chandra told PTI all police stations in the town have put on high alert.
Prohibitory orders were promulgated and nine companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) deployed as a precautionary measure in the district, officials said.
The mortal remains of Phoolan Devi will be consigned to flames at the banks of river Ganga at Choubey Ghat at 1500 hours (IST) on Thursday.
Earlier, effigies of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Home Minister L K Advani were burnt by agitated SP workers who also attempted to disrupt rail and road traffic protesting the killing of their leader.
PTI
The Phoolan Devi Murder: Complete Coverage
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