Anil Shastri to write to PM Modi for declassification of Lal Bahadur Shastri files

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Anil Shastri today said he would write a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week after his return from foreign tour seeking de-classification of files relating to the death of his father and former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri in Tashkent in 1965.

Truth must come out and whatever documents are there should be in public domain, he told PTI insisting that this was necessary in view of doubts.

Shastri has earlier said there were suspicion that some "foul play" could have led to his death in Tashkent nearly 50 years ago.

He also recalled that BJP has all along been demanding that the files relating to Shastri's be de-classified.

He has maintained that when his father's body arrived in India, it had "blue marks" and "white spots", which indicated signs of "foul play" in his death on January 11,1966.

Another son of the former PM Sunil Shastri, a BJP leader, also said that he has been requesting several Prime Ministers in the past to de-classify files pertaining to his father.

The demand comes close on the heels of West Bengal government declassifying files on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.