V.D. Bagai's Report Cited in SF Hindu–German Conspiracy Trial Proceedings

Vaishno Das Bagai is identified as 'Informant No. 1' in a confidential memorandum issued by Carnegie Ross of the San Francisco British Consulate

This piece uncovers how Vaishno Das Bagai diverted Ghadar Party revolutionary funds between 1916 and 1917 to purchase a property at 1610 Edith Street in Berkeley. Drawing on real estate records and eyewitness accounts, it reveals Bagai’s financial misconduct, his collaboration with Ram Chandra, and the resulting betrayal of immigrant donors who sacrificed for India’s liberation.

Learn About the History of the Ghadar Party

As Ghadar revolutionaries departed for battlefronts by 1915, Ram Chandra remained at the San Francisco headquarters, forging ties with Berlin Committee operatives and German agents. Internal tensions escalated when Ram Chandra refused to present financial accounts and maintained ties with British informant Vishnu Das Bagai, whose intelligence led to the capture of arms shipments and execution of key revolutionaries. The party fractured, culminating in Ram Chandra’s expulsion and the rise of a rival faction. Lala Lajpat Rai and the California Senate later condemned Ram Chandra’s actions, contrasting him with selfless Sikh patriots and exposing deep betrayals that weakened the Ghadar movement’s revolutionary mission.

Mr. Vaisno Das Bagai, Kala Bagai's husband, was an individual who pretended to work for the Ghadar Movement in based in San Francisco and Berkeley during the World War I while secretly working as a spy for the British Empire in India.

Copy Letter from Carnegie Ross (San Francisco British Consulate) to the Viceroy and Governor-General of India regarding Vaishno Das Bagai's informant services to the British Government on Indian activities in San Francisco. Bagai first contacted the Consul on October 19th, offering information on "Indian activities in San Francisco". He claimed to have been employed in India under Mr. J.R. Adam, Secretary of the Inspector General of Police at Peshawar, and stated he was an "intimate friend of Ram Chandra".

Copy of Letter from Ridout To Pietre (British officers): In this letter Ridout and Pietre are discussing Bagai's employment in Peking after over a year since Bagai has left India to California to spy on Indian revolutionaries. This letter makes it clear that Bagai was well known Informant working with British rulers long before coming the California. British intelligence officers admired Mr. Bagai's work for them as Colonial British Spy.