India's Bandit Queen shot dead

Friends and relatives gathered at the hospital

Indian politician Phoolan Devi - the notorious "Bandit Queen" - has been shot dead, according to police.

The shooting took place at her home in the capital, Delhi.

Phoolan Devi became India's most notorious outlaw in the 1980s when 22 upper-caste men who had allegedly raped her were gunned down in what was seen as a revenge attack.

Phoolan Devi: Seen as champion of the poor

Members of the Samajvadi Party, to which Ms Devi belonged, are said to be extremely upset by her death.

They have called a strike on Thursday to protest against supposedly inadequate security cover provided for her.

Ram Sharan Das, the leader of the main opposition party in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, alleged that the state administration had turned down an application from Ms Devi for an arms licence.

Mr Das also said that her murder may have been the result of a political conspiracy hatched by her opponents in the state's ruling Bhartiya Janata Party ahead of state assembly elections due later this year.

Denial

State chief minister, Raj Nath Singh strongly denied these allegations.

She was coming out of her car ... when some gunmen attacked her and fired indiscriminately.

Police official Suresh Roy

Ms Devi had just returned to her house from parliament when several armed men opened fire on her.

She was hit several times in the head.

Parliament was adjourned when news of the killing became public.

Indian President K.R. Narayanan and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee have expressed their shock and offered their condolences at the killing.

Protest

Nearly 100 workers from her party took part in a procession in the state capital Lucknow demanding the arrest of those who killed her.

There is no indication so far as to the identity of her attackers.

However, the BBC's Satish Jacob in Delhi says that she made plenty of enemies during her life as an outlaw in central India.

Police officials have suggested the assailants could have been the children of her victims.

Legendary life

Born into a poor low-caste family, Phoolan Devi suffered sexual abuse at a young age.

A bloodstain marks the spot where Phoolan Devi was shot

She joined a gang of bandits who established a reputation for violent attacks.

The killing of 22 upper-caste men who had allegedly raped her made her a household name.

Although she denied leading the killers, she surrendered to the police two years later and spent 11 years in prison without trial.

She later became an MP for the Samajwadi Party.

Film

Throughout her life, she captured the imagination of the Indian public.

Her exploits were written about extensively, and her life was later portrayed in the prize-winning film called Bandit Queen.

She herself said she represented those who had been abused by their social superiors.

And her supporters said she always targeted high-caste families and shared the spoils with the lower castes.

However, the Indian authorities say the suggestion that she carried out her campaign of violent robberies in order to benefit the poor is a myth.