Bimal Dasgupta
Bimal Dasgupta (29 April 1910 – 3 April 2000), nicknamed "Makhan", was an Indian revolutionary and member of the Bengal Volunteers who carried out assassinations against British colonial officials in an attempt to secure Indian independence. Family. Bimal Dasgupta was born in Jhalokati District, Barishal in 1910. His father was Akhyay Kumar Dasgupta, an aurvedic doctor. His mothers name was Sushila Devi. His father came to Midnapore permanently when he was only 4 years old. His parental uncle Hiralal Dasgupta was already lived here. They were four brothers and five sisters. He joined the Bengal Volunteers, a revolutionary organisation  of British India. Education. He started his education at Mahendra babur Pathsala, Mir Bazar. Then he admitted at the Vidyasagar Vidyapith as a class 5 student and Hindu school from class 7 to class10. Hindu school was a private school at that time. Later he was came to the influence of Dinesh Gupta, who was a student of Midnapore College at that time. Dinesh Gupta came to Midnapore after the instruction of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and stayed with his brother Jyotish Gupta who was a lawer in Midnapore judges court. This way Dasgupta joined Bengal Volunteers, a revolutionary organisation  of British India. His paternal uncle was Hiralal Dasgupta, headmaster of Midnapore Collegiate School. He forced his uncle to patronize a handicraft fair at Colligete school premises and continued it till 7 April. Revolutionary activities. Dinesh Gupta himself fought in the Battle of the Writers Buildings Verandah but somehow survived. After discussion it was decided by the Bengal Volunteers group that the first target would be James Peddy, Peddy had already earned notoriety on his own. He would beat the salt satyagrahis to unconsciousness and even killed some of them by kicking them badly. Further, he would take the unarmed  women to the open streets, strip them and leave them there. A list of four names was sent to Calcutta Headquarters of Bengal volunteers for approval. They were Shashanka Dasgupta, Phani Kundu, Jyoti Jibon Ghosh and Bimal Dasgupta. On 7 April at around 5:00 p.m Peddi came to the fair with two officers 16 trained police dogs, 16 body guards for prize distribution. He was busy in the exhibition when Jyoti Jiban Ghosh and Bimal Dasgupta suddenly shot at him. After the shotout they snaiched a cycle and fled to the Salbani Jungle, there they broaded from two different Railway  station i.e. Godapiasal railway station, Salboni railway station and reached Purulia by Gomo Passenger. After that they spend some days in Asansol and Kolkata. His uncle refused to give any information about the killer of Pedi and lost his job. He works in Jharia coalfieldfor some time in this period. Some days later Bimal Dasgupta was again given the responsibility of killing of Mr. Villiers chief editor of the newspaper The Statesman of Clive Street. On July 29, 1931, he shot Villiers in his office. Get caught before he take the cyanide out of his pocket. Police eventually found him  as a defendant in the Pedi Murder case as the revolutionary Kanailal Bhattacharjee killed Garlic and was martyred under the name of Bimal Dasgupta (or Bimal Gupta) so that the police would stop searching for the real Bimal Dasgupta. The sacrifice of Shaheed Kanailal Bhattacharya to remain anonymous and save another revolutionary from the hands of the police is rare in history. At the initiative of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, three barristers stood for the revolutionaries in the special tribunal. Jyotijivan Ghosh was acquitted and during cross-examination, key witness Sushil Das said, "Paddy's killer is not Bimal Dasgupta ." To save Bimal Dasgupta, Raja Narendra Lal Khan of Medinipur instructed Sushil Das to say so. Although Bimal Dasgupta was acquitted of the murderof Paddy, he was sentenced to ten years in prison in the Villiers murder case. Prison Life. In the middle of 1932, he was sent to the Andaman Cellular Jail. In 1936 he went on a hunger strike to demand the status of a political prisoner. The fast was called off with the mediation of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Muzaffar Ahmed. He was repatriated in 1938 but was not released. Bimal Dasgupta spent four years in  various prisons in main land of Bengal. Last life. After being freed in 1942 he was looking after the land in his home in Medinipur. He worked as a sales inspector of Anandabazar newspaper after independence. Death. He died on March 3, 2000.