अमर शहीद अशफ़ाक़उल्ला ख़ाँ: व्यक्तित्व और कृतित्व (काकोरी के अमर शहीद का जीवन व रचनाएँ)

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September, 1925, because Ashfaqullah had sent for him through
one Khalil. It transpired during the defence evidence that Khalil
is the son of Ashfaqullah's elder brother, Safiullah Khan, (D. W.
21). It is argued by the prosecution that until this admission was
made it was not known who Khalil was and that the mention of
his name by Indu Bhushan shows therefore that Indu Bhushan's
statement could not have been put into his mouth by the police.
It is also argued that Ashfaqullah would not have sent for Indu
Bhushan if he had not known that Indu Bhushan was Ram Prasad's
'post box'. Indu Bhushan says that he found Ashiq (a defence 10
witness) at Ashfaqullah's house. After Ashiq's departure they
talked about the arrests, Ashfaqullah telling him that he had
been warned by a police constable and so had escaped arrest.
Indu Bhushan's story about this is corroborated by a statement of
Ashfaqullah himself in Ex. P. A. 10, one of the letters addressed to
the Home Member which he wanted his mother to send to the
Press. This statement is as follows:—'When he (i. e. Ashfaqullah)
was going, he said that a respectable police officer who was his
friend, had informed him that arrests would be made the following
day and that he should be on his guard, and so he was going 20
away'. Before his arrest at Delhi Ashfaqullah was clearly waiting
for a friend to come and take his letters. Several of the letters
refer to 'the bearer' who will give the addressee further informa-
[O. P. 75.] tion on certain points. Who this friend was has not transpired but
one friend whom Ashfaqullah had been expecting was clearly the
'Ashiq' referred to above. The letter Ex. P. A. 4 found in his
possession and addressed to 'Arfi' reproaches the latter for not
coming before and begs him to come soon. Ashiq Ali (D. W. 20)
admits that he was known by this name. The sentence in the
letter 'I had no explosive substance with me for fear of which you 30
did not come to me' is possibly significant. Ashfaqullah's appeal
in some of the other letters for pecuniary help is explained by the
fact that at the time of his arrest only two annas three pies were
found on him. Lastly there are references to 'Rama' in the letter
to his brother Riyasatullah alias Lallu (Ex. P. A. 3) and in the
letter to Abdul Qadir (Ex. P. A. 6). In the former he says 'You
should come after seeing Rama's father'; in the latter 'you must
be knowing about Rama that he is in the cells of jail'. The natural
inference is that he was referring in both cases to Ram Prasad and
that he was well acquainted with him. 40
56. Inspector Sardar Sundar Singh of the United Provinces
[Search for S. N. Bakshi] C. I. D. (P. W. 95) states that he went to
[and discovery of his] Jhansi in November, 1925, in search of
[trunk at Jhansi.] S. N. Bakhsi and Mukandi Lal. Search had
been made for Bakshi at Benares on the 26th September but with-
out result: The Inspector could not find either Bakshi or Mukandi
Lal at Jhansi. His inquiries showed that Bakshi had been on
friendly terms with one Rudra Narain Singh and he therefore
searched Rudra Narain Singh's house. A letter was found in the