The conspiracy trial at Dacca has assumed fresh interest owing
to the evidence of the Crown witnesses. One man, described as a Bengal agent, penetratedjnto the secret society, and was even admitted to the inner Council. Besides describing the organisation, the planning of dacoities, and the collection of arms, he states that " some Europeans at Narainganj, who did not care whether British rule was over- thrown or not, were selling arms to the natives." Another Crown witness who succeeded in gaining admission to the secret deliberations of the conspirators stated that he was told that British rule in India would come to an end in five years, when Tilak would he King. It is satisfactory to learn that in working lip the present case the police have adopted European methods, and are not depending upon either informers or confessions. The prisoners; it is said, are the subject of a good deal of hero-worship from students on their way to the Court, and behave with the utmost indifference and levity. Great indignation has been excited in the Bengali Press by the comments of the Counsel for the Crown on an article by Mr. Surendranath Banerjee praising a book on the Sikh martyrs, which the Counsel denounced as "blasphemous and dangerous."
Previous page
