In the first week of August, exactly 99 years ago, a group of 10 young men arrived at Chhedilal Dharamshala in Aminabad, Lucknow with a plan. They reached Charbagh railway station for a final check and then returned to their base.
He reached there on 8 August. Kakori Station He was walking on foot, but as soon as he reached the platform, he saw the 8 down train running fast.
Revolutionaries involved in Kakori Train Action (1-17) Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee, Premkrishna Khanna, Mukundilal, Vishnusharan Dublish, Suresh Chandra Bhattacharya, Ramkrishna Khatri, Manmath Nath Gupta, Rajkumar Sinha, Thakur Roshan Singh, Ram Prasad Bismil, Rajendra Nath Lahiri, Govind Charan Kar, Ramdulare Trivedi, Ram Nath Pandey, Sachindra Nath Sanyal, Bhupendra Nath Sanyal and Pranab Kumar Chatterjee
Some of them argued in disbelief that it was “not their train”, with one of them even saying, “no train in India can be so regular”.
However, a sane person arrived at the platform reception and broke the bad news that it was their train, leaving the members fuming. They had arrived 10 minutes late.
team leader Ram Prasad Bismil They quickly realised that the task at hand was very different from regular village looting and required precision and coordination, which the group was not fully capable of. They went back to their base and refined the plan.
The next day (9 August) he decided not to take any risk and left Lucknow, reached the previous station and boarded the train.
Three of them – Ashfaqulla Khan, Rajendranath Lahiri and Bakshi – took second class tickets and the rest, including Ram Prasad Bismil, Chandrashekhar AzadMukundilal, Murarilal, Kundanlal, Banwarilal and Manmathnath Gupta made the third journey and spread throughout the train.
As per plan, the second class men pulled the chain. The sudden halt caused some commotion. The members jumped out to execute the plan. One of them ran towards the engine while the other moved forward to overpower the guard and take possession of the railway treasury. Carrying German-made Mauser pistols, they quickly advanced to overpower the guard who was made to lie on his stomach. Two men stood on either side of the railway line while another group pushed out the heavy iron safe carrying the railway collections from the stations on the route. Two of them had a big hammer and chisel and started working on the safe.
The passengers were being told in Hindustani that the people did not intend to harm them and were only after government property. They were neither asked to come out of the compartment nor to stick their necks out of the compartment.
From time to time shots were fired to ensure cooperation from the passengers.
Everything was going according to plan. After some time, the people trying to break the safe felt the need for a bigger hammer. Fearing that the plan would fail if the safe did not open, the well-built Ashfaq handed over the Mauser to his young partner Manmath Nath. He picked up the hammer and started working with full force. Just at this time, when they felt that success was near, they heard the rumbling of a train. The headlights of another train raised a question in their minds… had they received news of a train accident? Train stopWas there any dishonesty or betrayal? What if it was a military train?
The possibilities shook them to their core. A few minutes later, commitment to the cause took over and everyone decided to face whatever may come. Ram Prasad came close to the point of action and said that it could be the usual Punjab Mail passing by.
He asked Ashfaq and the others to put down the hammer for a while and told the rest to hide their weapons and lie down quietly. With the train’s terrifying speed and its deafening click-clack sound, the group’s nightmare had passed. The rumble of the train was fading away while Ashfaq’s patient voice echoed in the air.
Soon, a big hole had been made in the vault’s armour. They picked up the bags and gathered them on a sheet. The operation was over and orders were given to retreat. To mislead the travellers, including some British military officers, the group dispersed to give the impression of fleeing Lucknow, but they changed their route and entered the city through the crowded Chowk Bazar. On the way to Lucknow, they took the cash and threw the bags into ditches filled with rainwater. In Lucknow, the loot was kept in a safe place, which only Ram Prasad knew about. Weapons were also hidden in pre-decided places.
After this, the group dispersed. Some went into hiding and others hid in public places like parks.
At dawn, newspaper vendors were heard shouting – ‘Sensational train stopped at Kakori’ – confirming their success. Nationalist efforts,
