Uttam Singh was a resident of Phoenix Bay, Port Blair, the Andaman Islands. He became a member of the Indian Independence League and actively participated in its activities at Port Blair. During the Japanese occupation of the Islands (1942-45), he was arrested on the charge of spying for the British and kept confined in the Cellular Jail. After prolonged inhuman tortures, he was shot dead on 30 January 1944 by the Japanese forces.