Archives reveal Calcutta HC case that inspired Nihar Ranjan Gupta’s sleuth novel
Kolkata: Considered “unique” in the annals of crime, archives revealed an infamous criminal case heard by the Calcutta High Court which later became the premise of a detective novel by the renowned Bengali author Nihar Ranjan Gupta.
An annual court report brought to light a case which had garnered attention from countries across the globe. It was described by some as one of the first cases of “individual bioterrorism in modern world history”.
The case ‘Benoyendra Chandra Pandey & Anr vs. Emperor’, dating back to the British era, pertains to rivalry between two brothers of the Pakur Zamindar Estate. One of the brothers, Amarendra Chandra Pandey was travelling to Pakur along with his relatives when he met his half-brother Benoyendra at the Howrah Station. While Amarendra was about to board the train, he felt a sudden prick on his shoulders right after a man covered in shawl passed by him. Three days later, he was examined by a doctor. Over the next few days he developed high fever, swelling in armpits and early signs of lung disease. He soon died. Even as doctors initially certified he died of pneumonia, laboratory reports revealed the presence of bubonic plague bacteria
in his blood. Police probe revealed a conspiracy involving purloining bacteria from a Bombay hospital. Soon three doctors were arrested. On grilling them, Benoyendra’s name cropped up. It was found he had conspired with one doctor to procure the plague bacteria to kill his brother who was in a two-year bitter battle with him over their deceased father’s estate. The trial court sentenced Benoyendra and one doctor to death for conspiracy to murder.
A division bench of the High Court heard the death reference and criminal appeals. It was concluded that there was convincing circumstantial evidence to uphold the charge of conspiracy to murder but since the case was based on circumstantial evidence and the unknown assailant who injected the plague bacteria was never found, the death sentence was converted to transportation for life.
Years later, author Nihar Ranjan Gupta used this sensational case as an inspiration in one of his detective novels involving the fictional sleuth Kiriti Roy.
