India@75 freedom fighters: Surya Sen, who led Chittagong British Armoury raid

Born on March 22, 1894, Surya Sen was a revolutionary best remembered for commanding the 1930 Chittagong armoury attack against the British administration. Affectionately known as Masterda, Sen was a school teacher from Naopoara in Chittagong (modern-day Bangladesh).

Sen was inspired by his teacher to join the Anushilan Samity, a revolutionary group founded by Sarat Chandra Basu. Basu believed in the concept of violence as a way of eliminating British authority in India. Sen also collaborated with Chittaranjan Das, another revolutionary who led the Non-Cooperation Movement in Bengal.

Surya Sen led the armoury raid on Chittagong on April 18, 1930. Sen gathered a group of youthful and zealous revolutionary young men, including Ganesh Ghosh, Lokenath Bal, and Ananta Singh. He intended to seize two main British armouries in Chittagong and distribute firearms to other revolutionaries, who would then form an armed organisation. The gang was successful in isolating the city by destroying the telephone and telegraph lines. They also destroyed the railway ties that connected the city to the rest of Bengal.

On the night of April 18, one of six groups led by Ganesh Ghosh gained control of the Police Armoury, while another group of ten individuals led by Lokenath Paul took control of the Auxiliary Force Armoury, which held Lewis guns and 303 army rifles.

Despite seizing these arsenals, the rebels were unable to locate ammunition. The rebels realised that engaging the British in an open combat without ammunition was unthinkable. Recognizing the dangers of this insurrection, they fled to the Chittagong hills in search of a safe haven.

Surya Sen led the armoury raid on Chittagong on April 18, 1930. Sen gathered a group of youthful and zealous revolutionary young men, including Ganesh Ghosh, Lokenath Bal, and Ananta Singh. He intended to seize two main British armouries in Chittagong and distribute firearms to other revolutionaries, who would then form an armed organisation.

The gang was successful in isolating the city by destroying the telephone and telegraph lines. They also destroyed the railway ties that connected the city to the rest of Bengal. Thousands of British army forces caught up with them on Jalalabad hill on April 22, 1930, and engaged in a horrific confrontation, killing 12 revolutionaries and 80 British Army personnel.

Sen and his colleagues withdrew into a neighbouring town, where they separated into smaller groups and conducted guerilla raids and surprise attacks against colonial people and property, after analysing the difficulty of the standoff.

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Surya Sen's actions astounded the British, who launched a series of violent combing operations in the Muslim-dominated areas where the rebels were hiding.

Despite the British's savagery, the locals did not betray Surya Sen and his colleagues. Instead, they provided them with the greatest assistance available. Until one day, an associate of Surya Sen, Netra Sen, alerted the British administration that the revolutionary was hiding in his home. On February 16, 1933, Surya Sen was arrested. Netra Sen was later killed for his treachery.

Sen's fellow revolutionaries were soon captured and condemned to long jail terms. He was mercilessly tortured by the British before his execution on January 12, 1934.

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• Chittagong British Armoury raid
• India@75
• Surya Sen
• freedom fighters
• Non-Cooperation Movement