Ranadaprasad Shaha (also RP Shaha; 15 November 1896 – May 1971) was a Bangladeshi businessman and philanthropist. He founded educational institutes like Bharateswari Homes, Kumudini College and Debendra College. During the Bangladesh Liberation War, he was picked up from home by the Pakistani army on 7 May 1971 and never returned. Early life Saha was born on 15 November 1896. Debendranath Podder, Saha's father, originated from Mirzapur in Tangail subdivision in Mymensingh District. Saha was born in his maternal uncle's house at Kachhur in Savar, near Dhaka. At the age of seven, he lost his mother, Kumudini Devi, who died of tetanus during childbirth. At the age of sixteen, he fled to Kolkata and initially worked as a day labourer, rickshaw-puller and hawker. Career Saha joined the Bengal Ambulance Corps and went to the World War I. He left Kolkata in 1915 for Mesopotamia. He earned a medal and citation from King George the Fifth for his distinctive performance. As a reward for his services rendered to the wounded, he was commissioned in 1916 in the newly formed Bengal Regiment. He got a job in the Indian Railway department as a war veteran. He received "Sword of Honour" award for saving some British officers from a camp fire. After serving for about five years, Shaha retired from the army and served British Railway as a ticket collector until 1931. In 1932, he started his coal business. He later acquired a dealership for coal business in Kolkata. In four years, he became a well-established coal businessman in Kolkata. He diversified his business in different sectors including passenger launch, river transport, dockyard, food grain, and jute. He bought a ship named Bengal River. He was appointed one of the agents to buy food grains for the Government. He bought three powerhouses at Narayanganj, Mymensingh and Comilla and owned the George Anderson Company of Narayanganj that used to make jute bales. Philanthropy In 1938, Saha founded a charitable hospital at his native village Mirzapur on the river Lauhajang. On 27 July 1944 the hospital which had 20 beds was opened by Richard Casey, Baron Casey, the then Governor of Bengal. Saha named it Kumudini Hospital, after his mother Kumudini whose suffering from lack of medical care inspired him to establish a hospital for the poor, so that people, especially women, would not suffer the way his mother had. During the famine of 1943–1944,