Assassination of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
| Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi | |
|---|---|
|
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| Location | New Delhi |
| Date | 30 January 1948 17:17 (Indian Standard Time) |
| Target | Mahatma Gandhi |
| Weapons | Beretta M 1934 Semi-automatic pistol |
| Deaths | 1 (Gandhi) |
| Perpetrator | Nathuram Godse |
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, better known as Mahatma Gandhi, was assassinated at the Birla House (now Gandhi Smriti) in New Delhi on 30 January 1948. Gandhi was outside on the steps where a prayer meeting was going to take place, surrounded by a part of his family and some followers, when Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist and prominent member of Hindu Mahasabha, approached and shot him three times in close range just below the heart and stomach. Gandhi was taken back inside the Birla House, where he died. Godse was arrested, convicted in court and later executed.
Prior to his death, there had been five unsuccessful attempts to kill Gandhi, with the first occurring in 1934.
After a previous failed attempt to assassinate Gandhi at the Birla House, Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte returned to Pune via Mumbai (Bombay).With the help of Gangadhar Dandavate, Nathuram Vinayak Godse and Narayan Apte purchased a Beretta M1934 and reached Delhi on 29 January 1948, checking into the retiring room No. 6 at Delhi Railway Station where they chalked out the plan for his assassinations.
During the subsequent trial, and in various witness accounts and books written thence, the motives cited for carrying out the assassination were:
The Sarvodaya Mandal mentioned in their website that these motives were not justified and Godse's assumptions were incorrect.
Nathuram Godse was arrested immediately after he assassinated Gandhi, based on a FIR filed by Nandlal Mehta at the Tughlak Road Police station at Delhi . The trial, which was held in camera, began on May 27, 1948, and concluded on February 10, 1949. He was sentenced to death.
An appeal to the Punjab High Court, then in session at Shimla, did not find favour and the sentence was upheld.
Godse approached Gandhi on 30 January 1948 during the evening prayer at 5:17 pm. When Godse bowed, one of the girls flanking and supporting Gandhi, Abha Chattopadhyay, said to Godse, "Brother, Bapu is already late" and tried to put him off, but he pushed her aside and shot Gandhi just below the heart and stomach three times at point-blank range with a Beretta M 1934 semi-automatic pistol chambered in .380 ACP bearing the serial number 606824. As the attending crowd was overcome by shock, Herbert Reiner Jr., a young American vice-consul at the new American Embassy in New Delhi, who was present, rushed forward, grasping Godse by the shoulder and spinning him into the arms of some military personnel, who disarmed him. Reiner then held Godse by the neck and shoulders until he was taken away by the military and police.
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