Govt releases 25 more declassified files on Subhas Chandra Bose
New Delhi: “Considerable quantities of gold and treasure” were given to Subhas Chandra Bose by Indians in the Far East as part of their war efforts, according to the new set of 25 declassified files on Netaji released on Wednesday.
A Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) note of 1951 on INA treasures said that Netaji carried a part of these treasures with him on his ill-fated flight from Saigon to Tokyo (and) the remaining treasures were left in Saigon.
Saigon is a city in southern Vietnam famous for the pivotal role it played in the Vietnam War.
“Considerable quantities of gold and treasure were given to Subhas Chandra Bose by Indians in the Far East as part of their war effort,” the document read.
It said that 7 kg 900 grams of comparatively pure gold in two wooden boxes (weight included weight of gold and wooden box) was recovered from the crashed plane in which Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was believed to be travelling.
Another 3 Kg 100 grams of gold mixed with molten metal iron was also recovered from the ill-fated plane, it added.
Union Culture Secretary N K Sinha released the fifth batch of 25 declassified files relating to Bose whose disappearance over 70 years ago remains a mystery.
The present batch of 25 files consists of two files from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) (1951 to 1953), 14 files from MEA (1956-2008) and nine files of the Cabinet Secretariat (1956 to 2006), which run into 2,248 pages.
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 batch of 50 files, third of 25 files and the fourth lot of 25 files were released subsequently in March, April and May respectively. (PTI)