A famous revolutionary hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Chandra Shekhar became popular as ‘Azad’ when, arrested during the Non-Cooperation Movement and questioned by the court, he repeatedly gave his name as ‘Azad’. He believed that aggression was necessary to end the British rule.
Azad became a member of the Hindustan Republican Association. He took part in the Kakori conspiracy of 1925 and worked in association with the Bengal revolutionaries. He became a leader of the Hindustan Social Republ ican Army and the head of its military division. He was involved in a number of incidents such as the second Lahore Conspiracy, the Delhi Conspiracy, the killing of Saunders in Lahore and the throwing of the bomb in the Central Assembly. Azad shot himself at Alfred Park in Allahabad while fighting the police.