The arrests started in March 1917, with Chandra Kanta Chakraverty "a thin-faced, falsetto-voiced Hindu, a native of Bengal, and a speaker of many languages", and the German, Ernst Sekunna, being arrested on charges of conspiracy. Most of the others were arrested on April 8, including Franz Bopp, the German Consul General for San Francisco, E. H. von Schack, Deus Dekker and Wilhelm von Brincken.
In March 1917, arrests began with Chandra Kanta Chakraverty, a thin-faced, falsetto-voiced Hindu from Bengal who spoke multiple languages, and Ernst Sekunna, the German charged with conspiracy. Most of those arrested were on April 8, including Franz Bopp, the German Consul General for San Francisco, E. H. von Schack, Deus Dekker, and Wilhelm von Brincken.