Abhinav Khare deep dives to the 1930, when the Writer’s Building in Kolkata was wrecked by three young men: Benoy Krishna Basu, Badal Gupta and Dinesh Chandra Gupta. On December 8, 1930, unable to tolerate the oppression of the British, they decided to take matters into their own hands.

Benoy Krishna Basu was born on September 11, 1908, in a small village called Rohitbhog, presently in Bangladesh. He left his medical studies unfinished and joined ‘Mukti Sangha’ to be a part of India’s freedom struggle. Benoy was also responsible for the assassination of police inspector General Lowman.

 

Dinesh Gupta was born on December 6, 1911, in Josholog village presently in Bangladesh. He was a student of Dhaka College when he decided to join The Bengal Volunteers where he even trained local revolutionaries to use firearms in Midnapore. These men, trained under him, later assassinated three district magistrates: Douglas, Burge and Peddy.

Badal Gupta was born in Dhakas Purba Shimulia region. Influenced by the revolutionary activities of his uncles Dharani Nath Gupta and Nagendra Nath Gupta, he decided to join the freedom movement.

These three young revolutionaries were tired of the police oppression in the jails of Bengal and thus decided to fight against inspector general of prisons, Col NS Simpson, and attack the Writers’ Building to strike terror in the hearts of the British.

On the fateful day of December 8, 1930, these three men dressed in European costumes shot Simpson dead, but what followed was a gun battle and soon the police overpowered them. Unwilling to surrender, Badal consumed potassium cyanide, Benoy and Dinesh shot themselves and injured Benoy later died in the hospital.

Dinesh survived the injuries and was tried and handed a death verdict for anti-government activities and murder. He was only 19 years old when he was hanged to death at Alipore Jail on July 7, 1931.

After India attained independence, the Dalhousie Square in Kolkata was renamed BBD Bagh in honour of the revolutionary trio Benoy, Badal and Dinesh. Their names are also engraved on the walls of the Writers’ Building.

This Independence Day, let us remember these young men who made the supreme sacrifice of their lives to serve our country.

About Abhinav Khare

Abhinav Khare is the CEO of AsiaNetNews Network and also the host of a daily show named Deep Dive with AK. AsiaNetNews is a leading media group of south India with highly valuable brands like AsiaNetNews, Suvarna News, Kannada Prabha, IndigoMusic, Indigo Radio, MyNation, NewsFast, IndigoXP Music lounges. 

He is a proud father of two beautiful daughters and resides in Bengaluru with his loving family and a lifetime collection of books and gadgets. An avid traveller, he has already pinged more than hundred cities from 5 major continents around the globe. 

A tech entrepreneur, who is passionate about policy, technology, economy and philosophy from ancient India. His favourite pastime is to research synergy between these facets of society. He earned his qualifications from the top 10 global universities; an MS Engineering from the ETH Zurich and an MBA Finance from the London Business School.