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Khudiram Bose: Why did Judge Douglas Kingsford become a target of him? how he was caught? all you need to know about Muzaffarpur conspiracy case

During his time Bengal was a hotbed of revolutionaries and freedom fighters, and freedom movements were more visible in Bengal than other regions. Reason was being the presence of a large number of British officials in Calcutta which was then the capital of British India.

Published

4 years ago

December 3, 2021

Khudiram Bose, India’s youngest freedom fighter was born on December 3, 1889, and hanged to death in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur jail at the age of 18 for planning to assassinate the British judge Douglas Kingsford. He had executed to death on August 11, 1908.

At the age of 18, Bose, and his friend Prafulla Chaki made a plan to assassinate judge Kingsford. They threw a bomb on a vehicle of the judge but he escaped the attack and unfortunately, two British women Mrs Kennedy, the wife of Pringle Kennedy, a leading pleader of the Muzaffarpur Bar, and her daughter were killed in an unsuccessful attempt to kill judge Kingsford.

Muzaffarpur Conspiracy Case

Prafulla Chaki and Khudiram Bose were chosen in 1908 by the revolutionaries based in Calcutta – Anushilan Samiti to get the job done. The two young revolutionaries landed in Muzaffarpur in the third week of April 1908 with some weapons. They stayed in a free, charitable inn of a Bihari zamindar at Dharmashala and carefully watched the daily activities of judge Kingsford.

On the evening of 30 April 1908, Prafulla and Bose reached the European Station Club with the bomb and lay ambushed under the shade of a tree in front of the club gate. They went inside the club after the arrival of Kingsford. Both the youngsters did not realize that they had chosen the wrong place for ambushing. It is said that Khudiram and Prafulla had waited in front of Kingsford’s house, not the European Station Club, where Kingsford and his wife were playing bridge with Mr and Mrs Kennedy.

Soon Khudiram was apprehended by the police and hanged to death in Muzaffarpur jail after the trial. He was not afraid when the noose was around his neck while the other accused Prafulla escaped from the scene and shot himself to death before being caught by the police.

Why did Bose want to kill Judge Kingsford?

Bose, an epitome of fearlessness, had decided to kill the Magistrate of Calcutta Douglas Kingsford because of his unjust, biased and harsh judgments on Indian nationalists.

Douglas Kingsford, former Chief Presidency Magistrate of Calcutta was a colonial British judicial officer and was dealing with lots of cases against freedom fighters and revolutionaries in his court in Calcutta.

His judgments on Indian nationalists were not based on merit but on hate and partiality. His inhuman, unjustified and vindictive verdicts against the ”Swadeshi and anti-Partition activists” earned him a bad name and later the people across Bengal considered him ruthless and cruel.

When Kingsford was the presiding judge in a sensational case against Aurobindo Ghosh, editor of Vandemataram and its publisher Bipin Chandra Pal, a young 15-year-old boy revolted against the police who ill-treated the Indians in the court.

Judge Kingsford, without any remorse or any consideration for the age of the boy, ordered 15 lashes. The boy shouted Vande Mataram after every lash.

This news appeared on the front page of every newspaper of Bengal that led to resentment and anger in revolutionaries. This act was deeply embedded in the mind of Jugantar group revolutionaries and then they have decided to kill inhuman judge Kingsford.

The local newspapers like Yugantar, Vandemataram, etc run by natives carried lots of news items about the oppressive British rule and their high-handedness in dealing with the natives and giving them scant respect for their free India concept. His antipathy toward Indians was quite well-known and he was highly critical of the Bengali newspaper Jugantar.

What was the situation of Bengal during 19s

Bengal was first seized by the East India Company in an unethical manner under the direction of Robert Clive. The murder of the Nawab of Bengal Siraj-ud-daulah was carried out by Clive and his co-worker James Watts. The British had been in Bengal since the later part of the 1700s, exploiting the land, people and natural resources. However, Britain had received vast revenue from the Indian subcontinent and extended, improved their economy at the cost of reducing Indians to poverty.

Related Topics:Douglas Kingsford Khudiram Bose muzaffarpur conspiracy case

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Delhi-NCR sees second spell of rain and thunderstorms in four days

Delhi-NCR experienced another spell of rain and thunderstorms on March 18, with IMD forecasting more showers over the next few days.

Published

10 hours ago

March 18, 2026

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Delhi and parts of the National Capital Region witnessed another spell of rain, thunderstorms, and strong winds on Wednesday evening, marking the second such weather event in the past four days.

The sudden change brought relief from unusually high temperatures recorded earlier this month. According to officials, the temperature at Safdarjung — the city’s base weather station — was recorded at 24 degrees Celsius at 7 pm.

The India Meteorological Department had earlier issued an alert predicting light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning on March 18. Several areas across the capital experienced gusty winds along with brief but intense showers.

More rain likely over next two days

The weather department has forecast partly cloudy skies for March 19 and 20, with chances of light rain or thundershowers occurring once or twice during the day. On March 21, skies are expected to remain cloudy with the possibility of light showers continuing.

Conditions are likely to stabilise from March 23 onwards, with forecasts indicating a return to partly cloudy to clear skies across the region.

Weather activity across India to intensify

The IMD has also indicated widespread weather activity across multiple regions of the country in the coming days. Rainfall is expected to intensify in several states, accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds.

In the northeastern region, heavy rainfall is likely over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and Meghalaya during the early part of the week.

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India News

Centre pushes states to cut levies to boost PNG adoption

The Centre has asked states to reduce local levies and streamline approvals to accelerate PNG adoption and city gas infrastructure growth.

Published

12 hours ago

March 18, 2026

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The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has urged states and Union Territories to ease local levies and procedural barriers affecting City Gas Distribution (CGD) projects, in a bid to accelerate the adoption of piped natural gas (PNG) as a cleaner fuel alternative.

In a communication sent to Chief Secretaries, Petroleum and Natural Gas Secretary Neeraj Mittal highlighted that high right-of-way charges, road cutting fees, lease rentals and other local levies imposed by urban bodies are discouraging investments in CGD infrastructure.

High costs slowing expansion

The ministry pointed out that the CGD sector, particularly PNG supply to households and commercial establishments, does not receive direct subsidies. As a result, it depends heavily on viable returns, which are being impacted by excessive and inconsistent local charges across states.

It noted that these financial and procedural hurdles are slowing down infrastructure expansion and affecting the broader adoption of natural gas.

Gap between connections and usage

According to the government, while around 12.63 crore PNG connections have been recorded, only about 1.6 crore are currently active. The ministry stressed that improving ease of doing business at state and local levels could help bridge this gap and expand the consumer base.

Officials believe that rationalising levies may initially reduce local revenues but could lead to higher long-term gains through increased gas consumption and economic activity.

LPG shortage adds urgency

The push for PNG adoption comes amid supply constraints in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), linked to ongoing tensions in the Middle East. Oil marketing companies are currently supplying only 20 per cent of normal commercial LPG demand to states.

To address this, the ministry has proposed increasing LPG allocation to 30 per cent for states that implement reforms supporting PNG and CGD expansion.

Reform-linked incentives for states

The Centre has suggested a set of measures that states can adopt to qualify for higher LPG allocations. These include:

Setting up empowered state and district-level committees for faster approvals
Introducing single-window clearance with deemed approvals within 24 hours
Implementing a dig-and-restore model using bank guarantees instead of restoration charges
Eliminating annual rental or lease charges for CGD infrastructure

The ministry said compliance with these reforms would be verified before granting additional LPG allocations.

Industry support measures

The communication also noted that GAIL and its subsidiaries have already allocated full gas supply to the commercial PNG segment to support businesses affected by reduced LPG availability.

The government reiterated that expanding natural gas usage aligns with its broader push for cleaner and domestically sourced energy.

India News

BJP seals Assam seat-sharing pact, Modi to hold 3 rallies in April

BJP has finalised its Assam seat-sharing plan with allies and is gearing up for an intense campaign led by PM Modi and Amit Shah.

Published

12 hours ago

March 18, 2026

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The Bharatiya Janata Party has finalised its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Assam Assembly elections, firming up its strategy alongside National Democratic Alliance partners as campaigning gathers pace in the state.

Under the agreement, the BJP will contest 89 seats, while its allies — Asom Gana Parishad and Bodoland People’s Front — will field candidates in 26 and 11 constituencies respectively. The distribution has been decided after internal deliberations, with the focus now shifting to candidate announcements and campaign execution.

Campaign push led by top leadership

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address three rallies in Assam during the final leg of the campaign. Tentative dates for the rallies are April 1, April 3 and April 6, with events likely to be held in key constituencies.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is also set to spearhead an extensive campaign across the state through March, aiming to energise party workers and strengthen voter outreach.

Candidate selection underway

The party’s Central Election Committee is currently meeting to finalise candidates. Sources indicate that approvals for most constituencies are expected soon, and the BJP may release its complete list of candidates within the next two days.

Ticket distribution remains a crucial exercise, with internal discussions highlighting its potential impact on local political dynamics. Party leaders have also touched upon the proposed delimitation exercise scheduled for 2027, which is expected to have long-term implications for Assam’s electoral landscape.