Lal Bahadur Shastri could have been murdered, claims his family; demands declassification of files

Claiming that there is more to it than what meets the eye, former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri's family is demanding that all documents related to his death should be de-classified.

Shastri's son and Congress leader Anil Shastri said blue marks and white spots were found on his father's body which showed signs of foul play. "I personally feel there could have been foul play. Can't say so conclusively, but the negligence is clear, everyone went scot free, no one was punished," he said.

Recalling the past he said, "there was a butler who was arrested and released. My mother wanted to meet him when she went to Tashkent. But she was told he could not be traced."

He also said that it was "very shocking that both his personal physician RN Chugh and personal assistant met with accidents. Both had to depose before inquiry commissions. Coincidence twice is a little improbable."

He added that his personal diary was never found. "His personal diary never came back. He jotted down notes daily in it. It could have mentioned Tashkent agreement. Even the thermos next to him was never brought back. His death could have been from something in the thermos flask," he added.

Another son of the former PM's - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sunil Shastri - also said that he has been requesting several former PMs in the past to de-classify files pertaining to his father. Naming a few, he said that he approached former PMs Chandra Shekhar, IK Gujral and Manmohan Singh but he was not given any answers.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Sidharth Nath Singh, who is Lal Bahadur Shastri's grandson said that he is hopeful that Modi will act on his family's request as he respects icons like Shastriji.

The demand for details related to his death are surfacing soon after the West Bengal government declassified 64 files related Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. As many as 12,744 pages, which were kept hidden from citizens for over seven decades, were finally brought out in the public domain.

After releasing the files, the West Bengal government has been pressuring the Central government to declassify the files related to Netaji that it has in its records.