in the december of 1857 capt. e.g. wood left nagpur to reach sambalpur for reinforcing the british soldiers stationed there. madho singh blocked his progress at the singora pass with the rebels and killed many british soldiers. the british captain escaped with his life and reached sambalpur with the news of the path to nagpur being blocked at the mountain pass by the rebels. later he joined with r.t.leigh in attacking the passes close to sambalpur, which resulted in the death of chabila sai, a brother of surendra sai. a british officer named as captain shakespeare again attacked the pass. hati singh, the son of madho singh foiled his first attempt to gain ground but was injured in the second and had to flee due to the superior firepower of the british.   madho singh tried to collect more weapons to face the menacing firepower and on his way to do so, he took refuge at the paharsrigirah pass. the british officers captain wood bridge, captain wood and shakespeare tried to block the pass but madho singh caught hold of captain shakespeare, beheaded him during the fight and hung his headless body from the tree as a warning for the british soldiers.