While Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt were arrested for throwing non-lethal bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly, the British government linked Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev to the 1928 killing of officer John Saunders. During their trial, the revolutionaries used the courtroom as a platform to spread their socialist and nationalist ideologies. Despite massive public protests and appeals for clemency, they were hanged a day earlier than scheduled. Their supreme sacrifice sparked an unprecedented emotional wave across India, further weakening the moral foundation of British colonial rule in the subcontinent.