Great Freedom Fighter from Punjab.

Banta Singh

He was born in 1890 at village Sanghowal, District Jalandhar and was an important leader of the Ghadar Party. His father, Buta Singh, was a prosperous and respected man in the village. After passing his matriculation he decided to go abroad. On reaching Canada he found his countrymen deeply involved in a national movement aimed at expulsion of the British from India. He started working for the Ghadar Party. He returned to India in December,1912 and started working on a well-thought-out programme of winning over Indian soldiers in military cantonments to the national cause. His house was visited by important revolutionaries like Harnam Singh Tundilat, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Munsha Singh Dukhi and Rash Bihari Bose. He was involved in tempering with railway lines and cutting telephone wires near the Suranasi Railway Station and committed a political dacoity in village Alawalpur.He escaped arrest but his father Buta Singh, his brother Santa Singh and two close relatives of his were detained. Later on, his father was released but his brother was sentenced to 14 years and the two relatives to 7 years imprisonment each. He once went to Lahore to forcibly get hold of some arms where he was detected and two policemen attempted to arrest him and his companion Sajjan Singh. He hit back and killed one of them. He boarded a train and again escaped. Soon after, with the help of a few other revolutionaries he made a raid on the police post at Mananwala and seized all their firearms. On being chased all but Banta Singh were arrested. Undaunted by what had happened, Banta Singh continued his work as usual. He was declared an absconder and a prize of two squares of land and two thousand rupees was announced for anyone catching him. His own close relative betrayed him into the hands of the authorities on 15th June, 1915. He was tried under Martial Law in the Central Jail Lahore and sentenced to death. He was hanged on 12th August, 1915.