Badal Gupta | |
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| Born | Sudhir Gupta 1912 (1912) |
| Died | 8 December 1930 (aged 17–18) |
| Known for | Writers' Building attack |
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| Memorials |
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Badal Gupta (Bengali:বাদল গুপ্ত; bornSudhir Gupta; 1912 – 8 December 1930) was an Indian revolutionary and anti-colonial figure. He is best known for his participation in the attack on the Secretariat Building - theWriters' Building in theDalhousie square inCalcutta, along withBenoy Basu andDinesh Gupta, in December 1930.
Badal Gupta was born in the village Purba Shimulia (East Shimulia) in theBikrampur region ofDhaka, now inMunshiganj District, Bangladesh.[1] Badal Gupta was also influenced by the revolutionary activities of his two paternal uncles Late Dharaninath Gupta and Nagendranath Gupta, who were involved in the Alipore Bomb Case and were imprisoned along with Rishi Aurobindo Ghosh.While studying at Banaripara School,Nikunj Sen, a teacher there, inspired Badal to love patriotism Badal Gupta joined the Bengal Volunteers in 1928.[2]
Bengal Volunteers targeted Lt Col NS Simpson, the Inspector General of Prisons, who was infamous for the oppression of the prisoners in the jails.[citation needed] 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 theDalhousie square inKolkata.[citation needed]
On 8 December 1930, Badal along withDinesh Gupta andBenoy, dressed in European costume, entered the Writers' Building and shot dead Simpson. Police in the building started firing at them in response. What ensued was a brief gunfight between the three young revolutionaries and the police. Some other officers like Twynam, Prentice, and Nelson suffered injuries during the shooting.[3]
Soon police overpowered them. However, the three did not wish to be arrested. Badal tookPotassium cyanide, while Benoy and Dinesh shot themselves with their ownrevolvers. Badal died on the spot. He was only 18 years old when this incident took place.[4]
Afterindependence, the Dalhousie Square was namedB. B. D. Bagh - after the Benoy-Badal-Dinesh trio.[5] In memory of their Writers' Building attack, a plate was engraved in the wall of the Writers' Building, on the first floor.[6]
