Nihar Ranjan Gupta

Nihar Ranjan Gupta (Bengali: নীহাররঞ্জন গুপ্ত, pen name: Banbhatta (বানভট্ট); 6 June 1911 – 20 February 1986) was an Indian dermatologist and a popular Bengali novelist. He is the creator of the fictional detective character Kiriti Roy. Some of his writings were made into films of Bengal and Bollywood. Gupta came from a Kabiraj family of Itna village under Lohagara police station, in the district of Jessore, presently in the Narail district of Bangladesh. He was born to Satya Ranjan Gupta and Labangalata Devi on 6 June 1911, in Narail district where his father used to work. He spent his childhood in Narail Due to his father's transferable job, he had to attend several schools, including Gaibandha High School. In 1930 he passed Matriculation from Konnagar High School. After completing his I.Sc. from Krishnagar Government College, Krishnanagar, he took admission to Carmichael Medical College. While a student at the college, his elder sister died of scorpion sting. Young Gupta vowed to earn higher degree in the medical sciences to serve the ill. During the Second World War Gupta served as an army doctor and was posted to various places, including Chittagong, Burma and Egypt. After the war he completed post-graduate studies in the United Kingdom, specialising in dermatology. On his return he joined the Calcutta Medical College. In his career as a physician he was associated with several hospitals in India. After the Partition, his family permanently migrated to Kolkata in 1947.