Badal Gupta


Badal Gupta, real name Sudhir Gupta, was an Indian revolutionary against British rule in India, who is noted for launching an attack on the Secretariat Building - the Writers' Building in the Dalhousie square in Kolkata, along with Benoy Basu and Dinesh Gupta.

Early activities

Badal Gupta was born in the village Purba Shimulia in the Bikrampur region of Dhaka, now in Munshiganj District, Bangladesh. Badal was inspired by Nikunja Sen, a teacher of the Banaripara School of Bikrampur, and as a result, Badal joined the Bengal Volunteers. 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.

The battle at Writers' Building

Bengal Volunteers targeted Col NS Simpson, the Inspector General of Prisons, who was infamous for the oppression of 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, Badal along with Dinesh Gupta and Benoy, 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 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. Badal died on the spot.

Significance

After independence, the Dalhousie Square was named B. B. D. Bagh - after the Benoy-Badal-Dinesh trio. In memory of their Writers' Building attack, a plate was engraved in the wall of Writers' Building, first floor.