Bhavabhushan Mitra - Evade Prosecution

Evade Prosecution

Early in May 1908, escaping the massive arrests in Bengal, Bhavabhushan fled to Mumbai under the name of Advaitananda Brahmachari; when a money order sent by one Swami Krishnananda from 275 Upper Chitpur Road of Kolkata (one of Jatin’s addresses, C/o his uncle, Dr Hemantakumar Chatterjee) reached him, the Police detained it for investigation. Exhibit LXXXVI found at the “garden” contained “a very important book, full of notes regarding the members of the society, references to religious, moral and political training, study of revolutionary histories of other countries, art of war etc.” Therein Bhaba Bhushan was named. Further, “Ex. CLVI is a letter found at the ‘garden’ to ‘My dear B.’ and the cover is addressed to B.B. Mitra, 30/2 Harrison Road.”

Sealy held that Bhababhusan was traced at Deoghar, and he was proved to have been at the Kolkata ‘garden’ as an active member. He secured 78 Russa Road for the use of the conspirators and was an associate of Barin, Ullaskar Dutta, Sushil Ghosh, Sailendra Nath Das and others. Meanwhile, Tilak published two papers (“The Country’s Misfortune” and “These Remedies are not Lasting”) in his Kesari, supporting the extremist challenge in Bengal since the Muzaffarpore incident; he advised the Government to appreciate the changed psychology of the people. With his new identity as Swami Bhumananda, on 22 July 1908, Bhavabhushan joined a group of revolutionaries who, disguised as fierce monks, created a panic by attacking the armed Police to protest against Tilak’s trial : the Leader was accused of fomenting hatred and contempt, exciting disloyalty to HM’s Government. In the bomb factory in Kolkata, the Police also found some letters from the Chandmari post office of Darjeeling by the above-mentioned Krishnananda, addressed to one Birkumar Mukherjee. The Judge Birley during the Alipore Case did identify them to be, respectively, Bagha Jatin and Bhavabhushan.

“Following the arrest of the Manicktola conspirators and the legal onslaught on the Calcutta Anushilan Samiti (1908–1909), (…) appearance on the scene just at this juncture was a god-send to the revolutionary workers. Very soon he plunged himself deeply into politics, secretly undertaking missionary tours through the districts of Howrah, Nadia, Khulna, Jessore, Rajsahi and 24 Parganas and setting up secret societies in each district under the command of a local leader.”.

Two days after the searches in Kolkata, on 4 May 1908, Bhavabhushan arrived suddenly at Deoghar dressed in ochre and stayed about 15 days with Sarada Charan, “an attorney of the Calcutta High Court, a most suspicious gentleman who was undoubtedly in league with the revolutionaries.” Later Bhababhushan gave out that the revolutionary Shyamji Krishna Varma had asked him to join the group in Paris. He was holding a valid passport when the Police arrested him in Mumbai. Bhababhushan had been in jail during the trial of the main case, 1908–1909, and was convicted in a supplementary case connected with the Howrah case in June 1910.