Basanta Kumar Biswas was a member of
Jugantar group, known for his organisation skills and was an important intermediary between Calcutta office of Jugantar and the 'co-conspirators' in
Chandannagar. After meeting Rash Behari Bose in Dehradun, he was politically indoctrinated and learnt practical trainings to carry out his mission. He was brought to Lahore by Bose in October 1912 and stayed there with his Punjabi associates. At Lahore he took the job of a compounder at a popular dispensary. Biswas participated in the plot to throw a bomb on
Lord Hardinge, the Viceroy of India. It was carried out by him on 23 December 1912, when Lord Hardinge was passing through Chandni Chowk, Delhi, in a state procession marking the inauguration of
Delhi as the capital of India. Dressed in women's clothing, Basanta went to a rooftop overlooking viceroy's route reserved for ladies. He introduced himself to other spectators as Lakshmibai – an allusion to famous Rani of
Jhansi. As the procession was passing by the rooftop, where Biswas was waiting, a bomb sailed down and exploded behind the viceroy. Hardinge was seriously injured, and the servant behind him holding his parasol was killed. As soon as his job was done Basanta dashed down to street and threw off his saree and disappeared into the crowd. He returned to
Punjab where he carried on his revolutionary activities. The authors of the deed remained obscure for many months despite the state's intense investigation, and lucrative reward. Biswas was arrested on 26 February 1914 at Poragachha, Nadia while he went to perform the last rites for his father. He was also accused of throwing a bomb in the Lawrence Garden,
Lahore, on 17 May 1913, in which a peon was killed. The trial, which came to be called the
Delhi-Lahore Conspiracy Case, began on 23 May 1914 in Delhi;
Amir Chand, Abadh Behari, and
Bhai Balmukund, were condemned to death in the trial, and Basanta Biswas was found guilty but initially sentenced to life imprisonment as he was just seventeen years of old. An
appeal was formulated at
Lahore High Court. The Crown won its appeal and Biswas was sentenced to be hanged. Basanta Kumar Biswas was hanged on 11 May 1915 at Ambala Central Jail in
Punjab aged twenty and became one of the youngest people to be executed during the Indian revolutionary struggles during the 20th century. ==Legacy==