Srish Pal (c. 1887 – 13 April 1939) was a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

revolutionary, born in Mulbarga,

Dacca Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. His full name was Shrish Chandra Pal. He was drawn to revolutionary politics in 1905 under the guidance of Hemchandra Ghosh. He joined the Dhaka-based ''Mukti Sangha'' (later known as

Bengal Volunteers Bengal Volunteers Corps was an underground revolutionary group against the British rule of India. The group was functional from its inception in 1928 to the Indian independence. The beginning Subhas Chandra Bose organised a group of voluntee ...

). Pal was a follower of

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian independence movement, Indian nationalist whose defiance of British raj, British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with ...

. Pal played a central role in planning and executing the Rodda Company Arms Heist in August 1914, which involved stealing 50 Mauser pistols and 46,000 cartridges from Rodda & Co., a British arms dealer in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. He was also involved in the assassination of police officer Nandalal Banerjee. Historian Uma Mukherjee, in her book, ''Two Great Indian Revolutionaries'' (1966), described Srish Pal as the "chief actor" in the Rodda Conspiracy.

Nandalal murder

After the arrest and death of

Prafulla Chaki Prafulla Chandra Chaki (, ''Prafulla Chaki'' alias Dinesh Chandra Roy) (10 December 1888 – 2 May 1908) was an Indian revolutionary associated with the Jugantar group of revolutionaries who carried out assassination attempt against British ...

, the senior revolutionary leaders decided to assassinate Nandalal Banerjee, the infamous police inspector responsible for Prafulla's arrest. Pal, along with Ranen Ganguly, a member of Atmonnati Samiti, succeeded in the mission. They killed Nandalal on November 9, 1908, in Serpentine Lane,

and fled.

Rodda arms robbery

Shrish Pal participated in the Rodda company arms heist. On 26 August 1914, a group of Bengali revolutionaries stole several Mauser pistols and cartridges from the

Kidderpore Khidirpur or Kidderpore is a neighbourhood of Kolkata, South Kolkata in Kolkata district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. Etymology Most plausibly, the name is a corruption of ''Khidrpur'' or ''Khizarpur' ...

Dock area. The entire operation was led by Shrish Chandra Mitra, alias ''Habu''. Pal, Khagendra Nath Das, and Haridas Dutta secured the arms in a discreet manner. Finally, the police arrested Shrish Pal in 1916 but could not prove his involvement in the Nandalal Banerjee murder case. He was released from jail in 1919 due to severe illness

Death

Shrish Pal died on 13 April 1939.

References

1880s births Year of birth uncertain 1939 deaths Indian revolutionaries Prisoners and detainees of British India Revolutionary movement for Indian independence Indian people convicted of murder Indian independence activists from Bengal {{India-activist-stub