Satyendra Nath Bosu (aka. Satyendranath Bose or Satyen Bose; 30 July 1882 – 21 November 1908) was an Indian nationalist of the Anushilan Samiti. Bosu, while held in Alipore Jail hospital as an under-trial in the Alipore Bomb Case, shot dead the Crown witness Narendranath Goswami with the help of fellow prisoner Kanailal Dutta, leading to the collapse of the case against prime suspect Aurobindo. Bosu gave himself up on the jail premises and was subsequently put on trial. Along with Dutta, he was found guilty and executed by hanging on 21 November 1908 for the murder of Goswami.
Early life
Satyendranath was born on 30 July 1882 in Midnapore district (presently Paschim Midnapore) of West Bengal, India. His father, Abhaya Charan Bosu, was a professor in Midnapur College. Around 1850, he settled at Midnapur, which became the residence of Satyendranath's family. Abhaya Charan had five sons (Jnanendra Nath, Satyendra Nath, Bhupendra Nath, Subodh Kumar and another boy) and three daughters. Satyendranath was the maternal uncle of Shri Aurobindo, though he was about ten years younger. The Bosu family originally hailed from the village Boral of district 24 Parganas, and were the descendants of famous Babu Raj Narayan Bosu. Babu Nanda Kishore Bosu, the father of Babu Raj Narayan Bosu, was a follower of Raja Ram Mohan Roy and was the first of his family to be initiated into Brahmoism. Babu Nanda Kishore had three sons, the eldest of whom was Babu Raj Narayan. The reputation of Babu Raj Narayan as a man of piety and letters was widespread. Additionally, he was a distinguished member of the Adi Brahmo Samaj and was a Senior Scholar of the then Hindu College. His two younger brothers were Madan Mohan and Abhaya Charan. Around the year 1850, Babu Raj Narayan, along with his two younger brothers, left his ancestral village and settled at Midnapur where he was appointed Headmaster of the district School. In 1867, he retired from Government service and moved to Calcutta, where he lived for some time. In 1880 he finally settled with his family at Deoghur and died in the year 1899.
Having successfully passed the Entrance and F.A. Examinations, Satyendranath studied up to the B.A. standard of the Calcutta University but did not go up for the B.A. Examination. He left college and served for about a year at the Midnapur Collectorate.
Revolutionary activities
Satyendranath became involved in the murder case of Narendranath Goswami among other events, in which there were three events of armed revolution at the dawn of the twentieth century.
Midnapur arms case
Satyendranath was arrested by the police in charge of possessing a gun which was licensed in his brother's name at Midnapore. He was convicted and sentenced to two months’ rigorous imprisonment, according to the police report.
Alipore Bomb Case
Police raided the premises at 32 Murari Pukur Road at Kolkata on 2 May 1908 and a bomb-factory was discovered along with a cache of arms, a large quantity of ammunition, bombs, detonators and other tools. They also confiscated revolutionary literature. The raids were being conducted at various places throughout Bengal and Bihar, and more detention was on the move. Aurobindo Ghosh, Barindra Kumar Ghose, Ullaskar Dutt, Indu Bhusan Roy and many others were arrested. During this time, one detainee, Narendranath Goswami (aka Naren Gossain), became an approver of the British, and started revealing the names of many involved persons to the police, leading to further arrests.
Goswami was a resident of Srirampur near Chandernagore, and he knew all the plans and activities of the revolutionaries. Appearing in the witness box, he started implicating many of his former colleagues by mentioning their names. Barin Ghosh, Shanti Ghosh and Ullaskar Dutta's names were mentioned for their alleged involvement in an attempt to bomb the governor's train at Chandernagore station in 1908, and when referring to the bomb outrage in the Mayor's house he mentioned the name of Charu Chandra Roy: the leader of the revolutionary outfit of Chandernagore. On 24 June, Goswami mentioned the names of Aurobindo Ghosh and Subodh Chandra Mallik as a link to revolutionary activities.