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Surya Sen, Mastarda (1894-1934) a revolutionary terrorist,
was the leader of the Chittagong branch of the jugantar
party and the principal organiser of the famous Chittagong
Armoury Raid of 1930. A resident of Noapara under Chittagong, he was initiated
into revolutionary terrorist ideas in 1916 by one of his teachers while
he was a student of BA Class in the Behrampore College. On his return
to Chittagong in 1918, he became the President of the Chittagong branch
of the indian
national congress, revived the terrorist organisation and became
a teacher of the local National School. Hence, he was known as Mastarda
(teacher brother).
By 1923 Surya Sen established a number of terrorist organisations
(Jugantar) in different parts of Chittagong district. Aware of
the limited equipment and other resources of the terrorists, he was convinced
of the need for secret guerilla warfare against the colonial government.
One of his early successful undertakings was a broad day robbery at the
treasury office of the Assam-Bengal Railway at Chittagong. His subsequent
major success in the anti-British revolutionary violence was the Chittagong
Armoury Raid in 1930.
As a fugitive, Surya
Sen was hiding at the house of Sabitri Devi, a widow, near Patiya.
A police and military force under Captain Cameron surrounded the
house on 13 June 1932.Cameron was shot dead while ascending the
staircase and Surya Sen along with pritilata
waddedar and kalpana
datta escaped to safety.
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Surya Sen |
Ultimately a villager revealed the hiding place of Surya
Sen at village Gairala in Chittagong and in the early hours of 17 February
1933, a Gurkha contingent surrounded the hideout and a soldier seized
Surya Sen while he was trying to break the cordon. Tarakeswar Dastidar,
the new President of the Chittagong Branch Jugantar Party, made a preparation
to rescue Surya Sen from the Chittagong Jail. But the plot was unearthed
and consequently frustrated. Tarakeswar and Kalpana along with others
were arrested. Special tribunals tried Surya Sen, Tarakeswar Dastidar,
and Kalpana Datta in 1933.
Sentenced to death in August 1933, Surya Sen was hanged
in the Chittagong Jail on 8 January 1934. At the time of his execution
the detainees kept up a continuous chorus of revolutionary songs. The
villager, who had revealed the hiding place of Surya Sen to the Police,
was murdered in broad-day light on 8 January 1934.
[Mohammad Shah]
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