The Muzaffarpur Conspiracy Case (1908)

On 30 April 1908, Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki threw a bomb on the carriage of the Chief Presidency Magistrate Douglas Kingsford of Calcutta in Muzaffarpur district in present-day Bihar. It resulted in the killing of 2 women who were aboard the carriage. While Khudiram Bose was arrested Prafulla Chaki committed suicide. The historic trial of this incident, known as the Muzaffarpur Conspiracy Case (1908), started on 21 May 1908 and was presided over by Judge Corndoff. Khudiram Bose was tried along with his accomplices, Mrityunjay Chakraborty and Kishorimohan Bandopadhyay. However, Mrityunjay died during the trial and Kishorimohan was tried separately. Kalidas Basu, Upendranath Sen, and Kshetranath Bandopadhyay were the lawyers who handled Khudiram’s defence. Advocates Kulkamal Sen, Nagendra Lal Lahiri, and Satischandra Chakraborty later joined them during the trial. Khudiram resubmitted his statement to Magistrate E W Bredhowd on 23 May 1908, wherein he denied his involvement or responsibility in any aspect or stage of the entire operation. Though Khudiram did not agree to the plea statement, he was persuaded by his lawyers to sign it. Despite the combined efforts of several lawyers, Khudaram was sentenced to death. His response after hearing the sentence baffled the Judge, as the young boy, only 18 at the time, smiled. On 12 August the headline of the Amrit Bazar Patrika (a prominent daily) read, “Khudiram’s End: Died cheerful and smiling.”