The last bullet fired from this pistol had killed British officer John Saunders on December 17, 1928. Almost 90 years later, and half a century of being forgotten in a storeroom, Bhagat Singh’s pistol has been found.
The .32 mm Colt automatic was on public display -for the first time ever -at BSF’s Reoti firing range here on Tuesday. It was on this day, in 1931, that the final mercy petition filed by then Congress president Madan Mohan Malviya was rejected by Viceroy Lord Irwin.
Most people didn’t know on Tuesday that the historic gun was on display. Their eyes grew big and jaws dropped when they saw the legend on the glass case that holds the pistol.
“We were surprised when we removed the black paint on the pistol and matched the serial number (168896) with our records last year. It was Bhagat Singh’s pistol,” custodian of the CSWT museum, assistant commandant Vijendra Singh, said.
