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Khudiram
Bose was born on 3rd Dec 1889 in Habibpur, Medinipur of Laxmipriya
Devi and Troilokyanath Bose. He had to move on to Tamlook where he
was admitted to Hamilton school. Like any other boy, he was
interested in reading detective novels and loved to play flute. It
was in his schooldays he was inspired by the activists, Satyedranath
and Gyanendranath Bose who headed a secret society to campaign and
fight against British supremacy. He played the role of a savior when
Kangsabati flooded and was responsible for saving a number of lives.
In 16th Oct 1905 Bengal was divided by Lord Curzon and this further
infuriated the activists. The radicals swore blood. Aurobindo Ghosh
and Barin Ghosh, along with Raja Subodh Mallik together formed a
secret extremist outfit called the Yugantar.
Meanwhile, in 1906, February, Khudiram was running errands for the
Medinipur based outfit of the extremists. He came to be known in
those parts after hitting down a police officer and escaping after
being arrested at the grounds of Medinipur old jail for distributing
a nationalist propaganda called 'Sonar Bangla'. He also robbed
mailbags to accumulate funds for the society's operations
By that
time, in Calcutta, the Chief Presidency Magistrate Kingsford had
gained notoriety by passing out stiff sentences against the
nationalist activists. Things got worse when he ordered to cane a
youth called Sushil Sen held in contempt of the court. Sushil was
left more dead than alive and this incident caused furore through
out Bengal. The Yugantar passed Kingsford's death sentence and
Khudiram and another youth, Prafulla Chaki were chosen for the job.
Khudiram
and Prafulla trailed Kingsford to Mujafferpur in Bihar where he had
been transferred. They waited for his carriage near the European
Club which he frequented. This was the fateful evening of 30th
April, 1908. They saw a carriage approaching and thinking it of
Kingsford's and hurled bombs at it. The carriage with its passengers
was destroyed but it was not Kingsford who was killed but two
European women, Mrs. and Miss Kennedy. A massive manhunt followed
and while Khudiram was arrested on 1st May 1908, Prafulla evaded
arrest by shooting himself. Khudiram was tried and was sentenced to
be hanged to death. On 11th August 1908, Khudiram went to the
gallows in a calm manner. He faced death like a true martyr.
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