THE ALIPORE BOMB CASE

NAME: SHREYASI KUNDU

CU REGISTRATION NUMBER:
CU ROLL NUMBER:
COLLEGE ROLL NUMBER: 20/BAH/0273
SUBJECT: HISTORY
PAPER: DSE-A3
The Alipore Bomb Case was one of the most sensational trials of the in the history of the Indian independence
movement. During the trial, forty-nine defendants and two-hundred and six witnesses appeared in court. Four-
hundred documents were filed, and five-thousand pieces of evidence were produced including bombs,
revolvers and acid. Following the attempted assassination of Magistrate Douglas Kingsford by two young
revolutionaries, Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki, who were associated with the Anushilan Samiti, massive
police raids were conducted throughout Bengal that eventually led to the arrest of thirty-seven accused,
including Aurobindo Ghose, a prominent leader of the Anushilan Samiti, and his younger brother Barindra
Ghose. On May 6, 1909, after a protracted trial of one year, the verdict was finally delivered by Justice C.B.
Beachcroft.

It was a Thursday night on April 30, 1908, when the carriage in which Mrs. Kennedy and Miss Grace Kennedy
were in was blasted by two extremists, Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki, after they hurled a crudely handled
bomb into the carriage, presuming it was the Magistrate inside. A deafening explosion followed. The body of
the carriage was shattered. Both Mrs. Kennedy and Miss Grace Kennedy suffered fatal injuries and were taken
to the home of Mr. Kingsford. Miss Grace Kennedy died within an hour of the incident, but Mrs. Kennedy
suffered longer and succumbed to her injuries on the morning of May 2, 1908. The day following the
Muzaffarpur bombing, Khudiram Bose, one of the two executors of the attack, was identified by some locals and
arrested by police constables Fateh and Sheo Prasad Singh outside a grocery shop near Waini station. Khudiram
made a confession in which he admitted that he had thrown the bomb and killed the two women. He gave the
name of Prafulla Chaki as Dinesh Chandra and said that they had both come from Calcutta with the motive to
assassinate Kingsford Douglas. On May 1, 1908, a Sub-Inspector of Police, Nandlal Banerjee, spotted Prafulla
Chaki at Samastipur railroad station. Chaki's appearance aroused suspicion in him. Nandlal telegraphed his
suspicions to the Muzaffarpur police and was instructed to arrest the 'young man' on the ground of suspicion.
When Prafulla learned that he was to be arrested in connection with the Muzaffarpur bombing, he rushed down
the platform but was soon cornered inside a waiting room. He shot at the Constables pursued him, but it missed
them. Having no other choice, Chaki fired two shots at himself, close to his collarbone and throat, and instantly
died on spot. Khudiram was sentenced to death by hanging. The government hoped that the exemplary
punishment of Khudiram would nip any thought of revolution in the future, but the whole episode had an
opposite effect on large sections of Bengalis. The action of Khudiram and Prafulla was a fitting response to the
arrogant posturing of the colonial rulers and a vindication of Bengali pride. Newspapers reported with glee that
the British in Muzaffarnagar were now living in fear of their Bengali subjects, who had hitherto treated them
with condescending contempt. The stories of the extraordinary courage displayed by the boys in the face of
mortal danger were told with pride and celebrated in songs and dramas, of which "Fashi" by Pitambar Das
successfully stirred several Bengali hearts.

The Muzaffarpur bombing has a great historical significance and is considered as the immediate cause behind
the occurrence of this landmark case. It was unfortunate enough that two innocent lives were lost in the attack
instead of the target, but the bombing on that fateful evening exploded the myth of British invincibility. It was a
rude awakening for the British when they were confronted with the harsh reality that the bomb indeed intended
to kill Douglas Kingsford. Following this incident, well-planned and extensive raids began throughout Bengal.
On May 2, 1908, Aurobindo Ghose was arrested at 48 Grey Street at daybreak. His arrest followed the raid of
the Muraripukur Garden House at 32 Muraripukur Road, where a bomb workshop was discovered with a cache
of weapons and a large quantity of ammunition. Eighteen people including Barindra Kumar Ghose and Ullaskar
Dutt of Tippera were taken into custody. More raids followed were in several parts of Bengal, and police took
into custody many other extremists associated with the Anushilan Samiti. Barin Ghose, Ullaskar Dutt, and two
others, knowing that they will eventually face a death sentence, signed a confession stating that they alone were
responsible for planning the attack. During the preliminary hearings, one of the defendants, Narendranath
Gossain, turned an Approver for the British in exchange for a full pardon. In his testimony, he stated that
Aurobindo not only knew about several robberies and attempted bombings, but even helped plan them. He
claimed that Aurobindo was the 'boro karta' of the Secret Society, and his younger brother Barin was the 'chhoto
karta'. Kanailal Dutt, Satyen Bose and some other extremists managed to smuggle pistols to plan a daring escape.
However, after Naren's testimony, their plan was thwarted, and their main aim now was to silence the traitor.
The authorities, fearing a retaliation from Naren's accomplices, moved him to the prison wing where European
prisoners were housed. Meanwhile, Satyen Bose and Kanailal Dutt reported sick and were admitted to the Jail
Hospital. Satyen expressed a desire to be Approver as well and sent a message for Naren. When the latter visited
the hospital wing, Kanai and Satyen asked to speak to him privately. But instead of a conversation, they took
him by surprise and drew their pistols. A commotion ensued, and a total of nine bullets were fired. Naren ran
out of the hospital gate while Kanai and Satyen chased him. A bullet from Kanai's revolver pierced his spine,
and Naren fell to his death. Kanailal Dutt and Satyen Bose surrendered to the Jail Authority and were later tried
and executed for murdering Narendranath Gossain.

A British who saw the hanging of Kanailal Dutt asked Barin, “How many more do you have like him?” But the
question is, what motivated these young men to make such great sacrifices? The revolutionaries loved their
motherland selflessly, were heroic, inspired, courageous, soulful, and at times quite recklessly brave. They made
an unforgettable contribution to the growth of the nationalist spirit in India. They were hellbent on achieving
national emancipation of India, to an extent that they were prepared to use violence in order to undermine the
British Raj. Their goal was to assassinate as many British officers as possible, to instill a fear in the mind of the
British, which eventually would force them to leave India. The revolutionaries developed a fascination with
blood which can be traced to back the Tantric and Sakta traditions that were once popular in Bengal. The cult
had a strong presence in the thinking and behavior of the upper caste Bengali revolutionaries of the early 20th
century. Aurobindo Ghosh himself was the high priest of a version of the Sakta Tantra and appropriated the
mother figure for the cause of nationalism. Figures of deities such as Tara and Kali wore a garland of human
skulls and drank human blood. These goddesses were known to inhabit cremation sites, and their worship
included rituals such as 'shava-sadhana,' or sitting on the corpse of someone who had recently died. These
elements became clear in the consciousness of the revolutionaries. The goddess Tara, who promised
transcendence of material existence through an encounter with death, was easily reinterpreted as the mother of
the nation, and revolutionaries believed that courting death at her altar would be rewarding. In an appeal
characteristic of the time, the revolutionary newspaper Jugantar exclaimed in 1905: “The Mother is thirsting
after the blood of the feringees...” Another example cited by the Jugantar writers was where they imagined the
nation as a mother held captive by foreign asuras and suffering great indignities under their hands. It was
therefore incumbent upon her devoted sons to destroy her chains, even if they had to sacrifice their lives to do
so. The Jugantar began deriving ideas by quoting from stories and metaphors of Hinduism. Lord Krishna, who
had proclaimed in the Gita that he would appear in times of crisis to restore moral order, also became a central
figure in Jugantar propaganda. However, the growing popularity of this revolutionary newspaper became the
main reason for its downfall. The government acted against the newspaper and others like the Sandhya and the
Bande Mataram on the grounds that these extremist newspapers preached sedition.

THE TRIAL AND JUDGEMENT:Aurobindo was charged under Section 121 of the Indian Penal Code for “waging war
against His Majesty the King-Emperor of India..” “...conspiring to deprive His Majesty the King-Emperor of
India of the Sovereignty of British India or a part thereof...” and “...to overawe by criminal force the Government
of India or the Local Government of India...” Ironically, the judge who heard the case in the Alipore Sessions
Court in Calcutta was Charles Poten Beachcroft, who had taken the Indian Civil Service Examination along with
Aurobindo. The prosecution was led by a brilliant lawyer named Eardley Norton, who had argued many cases
for Indian freedom fighters. His attempts to prosecute Aurobindo were futile after Narendranath's death.
Aurobindo's defense was taken over by a brilliant young lawyer named Chittaranjan Das, who was later given
the title of 'Deshbandhu'. In May 1909, Beachcroft announced his verdict. Barin and Ullaskar were sentenced to
death, but later commuted to life imprisonment at Kala Pani. Nineteen other defendants received sentences
ranging from deportation to Kala Pani to simple imprisonment in Calcutta. Seventeen of the accused were found
not guilty, including Aurobindo Ghose, who was acquitted of all charges. This was mainly due to the efforts of
Chittaranjan Das, who succeeded in pointing out the lack of evidence against Aurobindo. Das's health was
severely affected by this trial. His defense speech extended over eight days and he concluded with an
impassioned appeal: 'Poet of Patriotism, Prophet of Nationalism, Lover of Humanity'.
REFERENCES:

Noorul Hoda. The Alipore Bomb Case: A Historic Pre-Independence Trial, NIYOGI BOOKS, New Delhi, 2008. p. 49-69.

“Alipore Bomb Case: May 1908-May 1909” http://www.sriaurobindoinstitute.org/saioc/Sri_Aurobindo/alipore_bomb_case

The Wire. “The Changing Faces Of Political Violence In West Bengal”, Aditya Nigam. https://thewire.in/politics/west-bengal-political-
violence | “How The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement Gained Popularity In Bengal”, Shukla Sanyal.
https://thewire.in/history/revolutionary-nationalist-movement-bengal