Yesterdate: This day from Kolkata’s past, September 16, 1931

On this day, 29 rounds were fired on unarmed prisoners at the Hijli Detention Camp in Kharagpur, Midnapore district, during which two prisoners, Santosh Kumar Mitra and Tarakeswar Sengupta, were killed and several others were injured. The Hijli firing remains one of the most infamous incidents of British oppression of the Indian freedom struggle.

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose came to take possession of the bodies and Rabindranath Tagore addressed a meeting in Kolkata addressed a condolence meeting at the “Monument” in Kolkata attended by many to condemn the deaths.

Later, IIT Kharagpur began its life from the Hijli Detention Camp. Now the camp, renamed Shaheed Bhavan, houses the Nehru Museum of Science & Technology of the IIT.