01Plague in Pune
Bubonic plague reached Pune in 1896–97. The Special Plague Committee under Walter Charles Rand sent soldiers into homes to search for the sick; families were taken to camps, homes were stripped, and shrines and kitchens were entered in boots. Damodar Hari Chapekar and his brothers, sons of a kirtankar of Chinchwad, had already formed a club to train young men in physical exercise and arms. On the night of 22 June 1897, as Rand drove back from the Diamond Jubilee celebrations at Government House, Ganeshkhind, Damodar shot him and Balkrishna shot Lieutenant Ayerst, who was riding behind. Ayerst died at once, Rand on 3 July.
02The gallows at Yerawada
Damodar was caught on information from the Dravid brothers, tried, and hanged at Yerawada on 18 April 1898; he wrote an account of his life in jail. In February 1899 Vasudeo, with Mahadev Vinayak Ranade, shot the two Dravid brothers. Vasudeo was hanged on 8 May 1899, Ranade on 10 May and Balkrishna on 12 May. Their family house, the Chapekar Wada at Chinchwad, is now a memorial, and India issued a stamp for Damodar Hari Chapekar in 2018.
