Bonangi Pandu Padal, also called Pandu, was born on 13 August 1890 in Andhra Pradesh. His father’s name was Bonangi Andaiah Padal and mother was B. Bangaramma.
On one of the marble plaques on the central tower of the Cellular Jail (Picture), the names of the freedom fighters from the various states of India have been engraved. Bonangi Pandu Padal’s name is among six freedom fighters from Andhra Pradesh who were incarcerated in the Cellular Jail between 1922 and 1932.
Bonangi Pandu Padal was one of the associates of the valiant and famous freedom fighter, Alluri Seetarama Raju whose name became a household icon for the people of Andhra Pradesh, and a terror to the British, during the freedom struggle. Along with Korrabu Kottayya, Golivili Sanayasayya, Kunchatti Sanyasi, Vegiraju Satyanarayana Raju, and Taggi Veerayya Dora, Bonangi Pandu Padal, joined Alluri Seetaramaraju in his fight against the British in the Manyam Hills of the Agency areas of Andhra.
Before joining Seetarama Raju Bonangi Pandu Padal, was working as a contractor. The injustice of Tehsildar Bastian in the payments drove him to Seetarama Raju. He was known as an expert archer. His most famous exploit was a daring attack on a military camp on 26 October 1923 in order to steal the arms. Although they broke into the armoury they could not unlock the ‘bell of arms’ and had to return empty-handed. After the execution of Raju on 7, May 1924 Bonangi Pandu Padal was captured and convicted under section 121 IPC and sentenced to death on 13 May 1925. The sentence was later revised to transportation for life. After brief spells in various jails at Rajamundri, Cannanore, Tiruchirapalli, and Madras on the mainland, finally, he was deported to Cellular Jail at Port Blair on 25 April 1928. During his imprisonment in the Cellular Jail, he was allotted Convict No. 48907.
After serving his sentence he married and settled down in a village namely Birchgunj in South Andaman.
Bonangi Pandu Padal died on 11 February 1974. A statue of Bonangi Pandu Padal, in his memory, has been placed by the villagers in their ancestral village Gondipakala, Chintapalli Taluk, Visakhapatnam District of Andhra Pradesh.