Damodar, Balkrishna & Vasudev Hari Chapekar were from Chinchwad, Pune. They were popularly known as the Chaphekar bandhu. In 1897, an epidemic of Plague broke out in Pune, which was very badly handled by the then Assistant Collector of Pune & Plague commissioner Walter Charles Rand. The Chapekar brothers were infuriated by the way people were treated, and plotted to eliminate Walter Rand.