Netaji's name didn't figure in any lis tof war criminals: Declassified files

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's name did not figure in any list of war criminals, indicated a declassified file on the freedom fighter released on Friday. The government today released 25 declassified files on Netaji whose disappearance over 70 years ago remains a mystery.

The declassified files noted about a letter by a director in ministry of External Affairs dated February 21, 2002 to Justice M K Mukherjee Commission mentioning about "authentic true copies of documents based on which our mission (Indian Mission) in Tokyo had sent the confirmation that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's name did not figure in any list of war criminals".

Culture Secretary N K Sinha today released online a set of 25 declassified files relating to Netaji which consisted of five files from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), four files from ministry of Home Affairs, and 16 files from the ministry of External Affairs pertaining to the period 1968 to 2008.

On the occasion of the 119th birth anniversary of Netaji On January 23 this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had released the first lot of 100 files relating to the freedom fighter.

The second lot of 50 files and third lot of 25 files were released by Culture Mininster Mahesh Sharma in March and April respectively.

The second lot of 50 files and third lot of 25 files were released by Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma in March and April respectively.

In October last year, Modi had met the family members of Netaji and announced that the government would declassify the files relating to the leader whose disappearance 70 years ago remains a mystery.

While two commissions of inquiry had concluded that Netaji had died in a plane crash in Taipei on August 18, 1945, a third probe panel, headed by Justice M K Mukherjee, had contested it and suggested that Bose was alive.