Baji Rout was shot dead by British troops in 1938.

Former cricketer Virender Sehwag on Thursday shared the photo of a 12-year-old boy, one of the youngest freedom fighters of India, to mark Children's Day. Baji Rout was shot dead by British soldiers after he refused to ferry them across a river.

"At the age of 12 ,this young boy was on guard of a country boat and was ordered by the British troop to ferry them across river Brahamani," Virender Sehwag wrote on Instagram, describing the details of Baji Rout's killing in 1938.

"Baji who had already heard details of the brutality of the troops which had killed innocent people in the village understood if the British troops were to be obstructed ,then they needed to be stopped from going across to the other bank. He therefore refused to ferry them across," the former cricketer wrote.

The child was shot hit on his head by a solider with his gun, resulting in a fractured skull. Virender Sehwag describes: "A soldier pierced his bayonet into the soft skull of Baji. Another British soldier started firing ruthlessly."

Virender Sehwag had shared a similar post on Baji Rout two years ago.

Baji Rout was born in October 5, 1926 in Nilakanthapur village in Odisha's Dhenkanal district in a poor Khandayat family. He lost his father at a young age and his mother worked in different houses to earn a living, according to an Odisha government website.

5th October 1926, one of our youngest and greatest freedom heroes was born at Dhenkanal, Odisha. Tributes to the great #BajiRout on his birth anniversary. His story of courage , selflessness and valour needs to be known to every child. Superhero . One of my SandArt at puri beach. pic.twitter.com/Z6ndTZVRwu — Sudarsan Pattnaik (@sudarsansand) October 5, 2019

On the young freedom fighter's birth anniversary last month, Odisha-based sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik paid him tribute with a sand scutpure on the Puri beach. "His story of courage , selflessness and valour needs to be known to every child. Superhero," Mr Patnaik had tweeted.