Benoy Krishna Basu was an Bengali Indian revolutionary and freedom fighter. Benoy Basu was born on 11 September 1908, in the village Rohitbhog in the Munshiganj District, now in Bangladesh. His father, Rebatimohan Basu was an engineer. After passing the matriculation examination in Dhaka, Benoy enrolled into the Mitford Medical School (now Sir Salimullah Medical College).
Under the influence of Hemchandra Ghosh, a revolutionary of Dhaka, Benoy joined the ‘Mukti Sangha’, a secret society closely connected with the Jugantar Party. He could not complete medical studies due to his association with revolutionary activities. Benoy and his peer revolutionaries joined Bengal Volunteers—a group organised by Subhash Chandra Bose in 1928, at the occasion of Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress. Soon Benoy started a local unit of the organisation in Dhaka, named Bengal Volunteers in Dacca. Later, the Bengal Volunteers became a more active revolutionary association and prepared a plan of “Operation Freedom” against the police repression in Bengal, especially against the inhuman conduct with the political prisoners in different jails. In August 1930, the revolutionary group planned to kill Lowman, the Inspector General of Police who was supposed to be present in the Medical School Hospital to see an ailing senior police official undergoing treatment. On 29 August 1930, Benoy casually clad in a traditional Bengali attire, breached the security and fired at close range. Lowman died instantly and Hodson, the Superintendent of police, was grievously injured. Benoy fled and took shelter in Kolkata. The police declared a cash prize of 5000 against Benoy’s head but he was not to be arrested. The next target was 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, Benoy along with Dinesh Chandra Gupta and Badal Gupta, dressed in European costume, entered the Writers’ Building and shot dead Simpson. 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. Benoy was taken to the hospital where he died on 13 December 1930.
Vocabulary
Shot dead—killed with a bullet
Inspired—motivated
