Khudiram’s execution took place at 6 a.m. this morning. He walked to the gallows firmly and cheerfully and even smiled when the cap was drawn over his head.
Amrita Bazar Patrika, 12 August, 1908

At the time of his execution, Khudiram was eighteen years, seven months and eleven days old, making him not only the first Bengali martyr but the youngest ever to be executed. He was executed on 11 August, 1908, at 6.00 a.m., at Muzaffarpur Jail of Bengal Presidency. Amrita Bazar Patrika and other leading newspapers such as the Anglo-Indian newspaper ‘Empire’ and the ‘Kesari’ the Marathi nationalist newspaper, run by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, carried the news the day after or a few days later. The Muzaffarpur Conspiracy Trial was very sensational, with many Indians hoping that the boy Khudiram’s life would at least be spared, by the strong legal arguments put forward by lawyer Narendra Kumar Basu. In fact, a host of lawyers fought for him, all without fees. These included Kalidas Basu, Upendranath Sen, Kshetranath Bandyopadhyay, Kulkamal Sen, Nagendralal Lahiri and Satischandra Chakraborty. The historic trial began on 21 May, 1908. A death sentence was passed by the Sessions Court, which was smilingly received by Khudiram. When the surprised judge asked him if he even realized the fate that lay ahead him, the boy smiled again and replied that he indeed did and if given a chance, he would teach the judge a thing or two about bomb making. Even if Khudiram was unwilling, as he had realized his impending destiny, his legal team made him appeal to the High Court and the trial there began on 8 July, 1908. The final verdict of death by hanging was passed on 13 July, 1908, with the British judges dismissing the appeal of the lawyers and confirming the conviction.
The events which led to the conviction of Khudiram Bose was unbelievably dramatic, to say the least. As per the judgement documents which we find today, the events proceeded at a fast pace. On 30 April, 1908, at 8.30 p.m., Mrs. and Miss Kennedy left the Station Club in Muzaffarpur, to drive home in a single-horsed carriage. Their carriage bore a similar appearance to that which Mr. Kingsford, the District Judge, then used. On the way back home, the ladies had to pass by the compound of the house occupied by Mr. Kingsford. As the carriage reached the eastern gate of the compound, two men ran forward, from where they had been concealed under the trees and one of them, or both, threw bombs at the carriage. A loud explosion followed and the horse bolted. It was stopped after a short distance and taken back to Mr. Kingsford’s house. The body of the carriage was found to have been shattered and the ladies to have sustained terrible injuries. The wounded and insensible ‘syce’ (‘sahis’ or the coachman) who had been standing at the footboard at the back of the carriage, was picked up near the eastern gate. Miss Kennedy died of her injuries within an hour and Mrs. Kennedy survived till the morning of 2 May.
Khudiram Bose was placed on trial before the Sessions Judge of Muzaffarpur, under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, with having committed the murders of Mrs. Kennedy and Miss Kennedy by explosive bombs or having abetted the commission of murders by Dinesh Chunder Roy (later found an alias of Prafulla Chaki, a revolutionary) or any other unknown person. The appellant pleaded guilty to the charge of murder.
As to how Khudiram got caught while fleeing, is a heart-rending tale, often compared to the failed escape attempt by Nawab Siraj-ud-daulah after the defeat in the Battle of Plassey. Prior to the occurrence, a letter dated 20 April, 1908, had been received by the District Superintendent of Police of Muzaffarpur, from the Calcutta Police Office and two constables had been deputed by him to protect Mr. Kingsford. On 30 April, these constables, Tehsildar Khan and Faizuddin, were on duty guarding the road from the Club gate to the eastern gate of Mr. Kingsford’s compound from 6.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. They saw two Bengalis on the road and spoke to them, telling them to go and escorting them beyond the Club gates. Both the constables later deposed as witnesses that the accused Khudiram was one of the two men and he was wearing a dark or striped coat. The other man was wearing a white coat. After the explosion, they saw two men running away southwards from the spot, but lost sight of them in the darkness. The constables gave a description of these two Bengalis to the District Superintendent of Police, who at once sent off police officers with these descriptions, by trains, with directions to watch the railway stations from Muzaffarpur to Mokamah and Bankipur, and to arrest anyone matching these descriptions. The next morning, at about 8.00 a.m., Khudiram was arrested outside Waini station, twenty five miles from Muzaffarpur, in a ‘mudi’ (grocery) shop by constables Fateh Singh and Sheo Pershad Singh. At the time of his arrest, a heavy unloaded revolver fell from his clothes and a smaller loaded revolver was taken from him as he drew it from his side with the apparent intention of using it. In his pocket were found thirty loose cartridges. He also had a striped coat tied in a bundle round his waist. He also had a white silk coat with him. He was taken to Muzaffarpur by the District Superintendent of Police, who had gone to Waini on hearing of his arrest and was identified by the two constables on guard at the club on the night of the explosion. The scene at his arrival had been described by The Statesman as follows:
The Railway station was crowded to see the boy. A mere boy of 18 or 19 years old, who looked quite determined. He came out of a first-class compartment and walked all the way to the phaeton, kept for him outside, like a cheerful boy who knows no anxiety…on taking his seat the boy cheerfully cried ‘Vandemataram’.
The Statesman, 2 May, 1908
The Waini station is today known as Khudiram Bose Pusa Station.
The fate of Prafulla Chaki (who used the alias Dinesh Chandra Roy) was more gruesome. He was more experienced of the two and had come with Khudiram from Calcutta, with the intention of killing Kingsford but by mistake killed the Kennedy ladies instead. Kingsford had incurred the enmity of the Anushilan Samiti, the revolutionary outfit to which both of them belonged, because in his discharge of duties as the Chief Presidency Magistrate in Calcutta, he had convicted persons connected with especially the ‘Jugantar Patrika’, for having published seditious writings, the editor of which was Bhupendranath Dutta, younger brother of Swami Vivekananda. On 1 May, at 6.00 p.m., Nanda Lal Banerjee, a sub-inspector of police on leave, took the train from Muzaffarpur to rejoin his duties at Singhbhoom. On the platform at Samastipur station, he noticed a young Bengali dressed in new clothes and shoes, whose appearance aroused his suspicion in connection with the Muzaffarpur murders the previous evening. He got into the same compartment with him and started questioning him in some pretext or the other. The annoyed man then left the compartment, but at Mokamah Ghat the police officer again made apologies and got into the same compartment with him. Meanwhile, Banerjee had telegraphed to Muzaffarpur and received a telegram at Mokamah directing him to arrest the man under suspicion. The man, on being told that he was to be arrested, dashed down the platform, pursued and at last caught by two constables whom he tried to fire but failed. But, immediately after his arrest, he fired two shots on his own neck and fell dead. His body was taken to Muzaffarpur and on the way at Barauni junction was identified by the two constables as the companion of the appellant. Khudiram still persisted in concealing his true identity and even while identifying the body, said his name was Dinesh Chandra Roy. The twenty one cartridges that were found in the body of the appellant, matched that of the pistol with which this said Dinesh Chandra Roy had shot himself. However, in the course of the matter, it was identified that Dinesh Chandra Roy was indeed Prafulla Chaki, the revolutionary said to be a bomb expert, though only nineteen years old. For better identification, the head of Prafulla Chaki was severed from his body by the British police and sent to Calcutta. It was also revealed that Khudiram too had an alias as Haren Sarkar, while on the hideout in Muzaffarpur.
The day of Khudiram’s execution arrived and he was taken to the gallows, with a huge crowd bellowing outside. He was all smiles and boyish. As the rope was being prepared to hang him, he asked the executioner, “Why do you apply wax on the rope?” His smile did not fade even while the cap was being drawn over his head. The lawyer-journalist of the Bengali daily ‘Bengalee’, Upendranath Sen, and his team, had been ready with the funerary arrangements, and Khudiram’s body was taken in a huge procession through the streets, with the British police struggling to keep the crowds at bay. The city of Muzaffarpur had come to a standstill, with the main artery roads being blocked by the ever-swelling crowds.
Neither the Jubilee murder of 1897, nor the reported tampering of the Sikh regiments had produced so much commotion, and the English public opinion seems inclined to regard birth of the bomb in India as the most extraordinary event since the mutiny at 1857.
Kesari, 26 May, 1908
At the burning ghat, when the cremation rituals were being carried out, the broken neck of Khudiram dangled and bowed over his breast, at which one of those present there is said to have remarked, “His head ought to be lifted to its proper place, as he never bowed his head in front of the British.” Then his body was consigned to flames, with no one from his immediate family present. In one of his articles, Upendranath Sen recounted a remarkable incident. It is a Hindu ritual to pour water over the ashes and then immerse them in the river, signifying that henceforth the person remains in peace. As this ritual was being followed after the cremation, some of the still burning embers flew out and burnt Sen’s bare breast. The white burn marks were to prominently remain there for the rest of his life.