Thursday, April 3, 2014

424. Badal Gupta (1912-1930)

বাদল গুপ্ত
Badal gupta.jpg
Born1912
Purba Shimulia, Bikrampur,Bengal PresidencyBritish India
(now in Bangladesh)
Died8 December 1930
CalcuttaBengal Presidency,British India
(now in India)
Cause of death
Suicide by consuming potassium cyanide
NationalityBritish subject
Other namesSudhir Gupta
EthnicityBengali
Known forWriters' Building attack
Badal Gupta  (1912–1930) was a Bengali revolutionary nationalist who fought against British rule over India.

Early activities

Badal Gupta was born Sudhir Gupta in the village Purba Shimulia (East Shimulia) in theBikrampur region of Dhaka, now in Munshiganj District,Bangladesh.[1] Badal was inspired by Nikunja Sen, a teacher of the Banaripara School of Bikrampur, and as a result, Badal joined the Bengal Volunteers.

The battle at Writers' Building

Bengal Volunteers targeted Col NS Simpson, the Inspector General of Prisons, who was infamous for the brutal oppression on the prisoners in the jails.The revolutionaries decided not only to murder him, but also to strike a terror in the British official circles by launching an attack on the Secretariat Building - the Writers' Building in the Dalhousie square in Kolkata.
On 8 December 1930, Badal along with Dinesh chandra Gupta and Benoy, dressed in European costume, entered the Writers' Building and shot dead Simpson. Badal Gupta was also influenced by the revolutionary activities of his two paternal uncles Late Dharani Nath Gupta and Nagendra Nath Gupta who were victims of famous Alipore Bomb Case and were imprisoned along with Rishi Aurobindo Ghosh.
British police started firing. What ensued was a brief gunfight between the 3 young revolutionaries and the police. Some other officers like Twynam, Prentice and Nelson suffered injuries during the shooting.
Soon police overpowered them. However, the three did not wish to be arrested. Badal took Potassium cyanide, while Benoy and Dinesh shot themselves with their own revolvers. Badal died on the spot.

Significance

The acts of Benoy, Badal and Dinesh inspired further revolutionary activities in Bengal, in particular and India, in general.
After independence, the Dalhousie Square was named B.B.D. Bagh - after the Benoy-Badal-Dinesh trio.

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