Hutatma Damodar Chaphekar Memorial

This is the statue of Damodar Chapekar, who was one of the three heroic brothers who took part in revolution. The Chapekar brothers alternatively spelt as Caphekar or Chaphekar (Marathi चापेकर), Damodar Hari, Balkrishna Hari (also called Bapurao) and Vasudeo Hari (also spelt Wasudeva or Wasudev) belonged to Chinchwad, then a village, near the former Peshwa capital Pune, in the state of Maharashtra, India. In late 1896, Pune was hit by bubonic plague, part of the global Third plague pandemic; by the end of February 1897, the epidemic was raging, with a mortality rate twice the norm, and half the city's population having left. A Special Plague Committee was formed, under the chairmanship of W. C. Rand, an Indian Civil Services officer, and troops were brought in to deal with the emergency. The measures employed included forced entry into private houses, examination of occupants, evacuation to hospitals and segregation camps, removing and destroying personal possessions, and preventing plague cases from entering or leaving the city. By the end of May, the epidemic was under control. On 22 June 1897, the Diamond Jubilee of the coronation of Queen Victoria, Rand, the Special Plague Committee chairman and his military escort Lt. Ayerst were shot while returning from the celebrations at Government House. Both died, Ayerst on the spot and Rand of his wounds on 3 July. The Chapekar brothers and two accomplices were charged with the murders in various roles, as well as the shooting of two informants and an attempt to shoot a police officer. All three brothers were found guilty and hanged, an accomplice was dealt with similarly, another, then a schoolboy, was sentenced to ten years' rigorous imprisonment.