Netaji was in Russia? Commission investigating

A one man Mukherjee Commission of inquiry into the disappearance of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose has begun verifying claims that the freedom fighter had stayed in Russia after he went missing in August 1946.

Justice M K Mukherjee, who arrived in Moscow on Tuesday on a 10-day visit, spoke to three witnesses identified by the key deponent in the probe researcher Purobi Roy, who virtually denied the claims.

"One of the witnesses clearly said that he never told Dr Roy anything like that. Another witness is an author of a book, and we have asked the embassy to translate the related chapter from Russian into English," Justice Mukherjee told Press Trust of India after first day of his work in Moscow.

He will meet prominent scholars specialising on India at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Science Academy today, besides visiting a number of local archives and hearing more witnesses.

Justice Mukherjee is accompanied by a team of eight persons in their private capacity, including Netaji's nephew, Forward Bloc member Subrata Bose.

He said the Russian Government has extended its full cooperation to the commission and has short-listed archives which could contain information about Netaji.

However, the presidential archives, earlier known as CPSU General Secretary's archives, would remain out of reach of the Mukherjee Commission, so would be the archives of Federalnaya Sluzhba Bezopastnosti, one of four successors of Communist era NKVD KGB.