Rajendranath Lahiri was the mastermind behind the Kakori Robbery and the Dakshineshwar Bombing. He was an active member of the Hindustan Republican Association whose objective was to evict the British from India by armed revolution.
Rajendranath Lahiri was born in 1892 in Mohanpur village in the Pabna District of East Bengal in a wealthy Brahmin family. His elder brother, Kshitish Mohan Lahiri was a landlord there.
Rajendra Lahiri was a leading participant in the Dakshineshwar Bombing episode whereupon he absconded to Benaras and took to his studies there. Revolutionary activity was quelled in Bengal for the while and spread to Uttar Pradesh. By then Rajendra was doing his postgraduate course. He became a member of the Hindustan Republican Association along with many others.
Revolution needed money to become operational and, accordingly, it was felt that the Government treasures coming by train would provide the necessary resources if looted. The Kakori Train Robbery was, thus, masterminded by Rajendra Lahiri. and executed with close associates, Ramaprasad Bismil, Ashfaqullah Khan, Chandrasekhar Azad, Sachindra Bakshi, Keshav Chakravarty, Manmathnath Gupta, Murarilal Gupta (in real, Murarilal Khanna), Mukundilal Gupta and Banwarilal.
Rajendra Lahiri was apprehended by the British police in Bengal in connection with the Dakshineshwar Bombing Case and sent to ten years' rigorous imprisonment.
Then the Kakori Conspiracy Case was opened and Rajendranath Lahiri being its mastermind was tried for it. A stray unintentional discharge had resulted in the death of a passenger of the Kakori train by the name Ahmed Ali and this led to the case being fought on the basis of both robbery of Rs 8,000 from the Government Treasury as well as manslaughter in the attempt. Eventually, the verdict was out and Rajendranath Lahiri along with Ramprasad Bismil, Ashfaqualla Khan and Thakur Roshan Singh were sentenced to death by hanging.
The final act was done in Gonda District Jail on 17 December, 1927, two days before the scheduled date. Lahiri, Bismil, Khan and Singh were hanged to death for sedition against the Raj.
Written by Sugata Bose
Photo : left -- Rajendranath Lahiri ; right -- top, Ramprasad Bismil ; middle, Thakur Roshan Singh ; bottom, Ashfaqulla Khan.
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