Bengal Volunteers targeted Lt Col NS Simpson, the Inspector General of Prisons, who was infamous for the oppression of the prisoners in the jails. The revolutionaries decided not only to murder him, but also to strike a terror in the British official circles by launching an attack on the Secretariat Building - the Writers' Building in the
Dalhousie square in
Kolkata. On 8 December 1930, Badal along with
Dinesh Gupta and
Benoy, dressed in European costume, entered the Writers' Building and shot dead Simpson. Police in the building started firing at them in response. What ensued was a brief gunfight between the three young revolutionaries and the police. Some other officers like Twynam, Prentice, and Nelson suffered injuries during the shooting. Soon police overpowered them. However, the three did not wish to be arrested. Badal took
Potassium cyanide, while Benoy and Dinesh shot themselves with their own
revolvers. Badal died on the spot. He was only 18 years old when this incident took place. ==Significance==