A group of army veterans extended their support to members of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s family who have raised objections to the claim that the iconic freedom fighter led his last years in hiding as ‘Gumnami Baba’ in Uttar Pradesh.

BJP leader and Netaji’s grandnephew Chandra Kumar Bose has accused a Delhi-based non-profit organisation, Mission Netaji, of running a “sinister campaign” to taint Netaji’s image with the Gumnami Baba theory.

In a tweet posted on Monday, Chandra Kumar Bose said that army veterans too have raised their voice against the “sinister campaign”.

“Army Veterans rise against the sinister campaign that #GumnamiBaba a recluse who hid behind a curtain for over 30 yrs,was #NetajiSubhasChandraBose in disguise. #FraudstersGumnami must be ostracized & alienated from society for denigrating the #LiberatorofIndia. @narendramodi ji,” he tweeted, attaching a copy of a statement issued by Ghaziabad-based Rashtriya Sainik Sanstha.

In the statement, the veterans’ body said that claims that Gumnami Baba was Netaji in hiding is a “deliberate design to malign the image of the freedom fighter”.

“It was a designed, maligned and a deep conspiracy to call Gumnami Baba as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose,” the statement read.

Rashtriya Sainik Sanstha said that the conspiracy was started immediately after 1947 by “pseudo leaders who wanted to malign the image of Netaji and create confusion in the minds of people of India”.

“The plot was to shadow the deeds…to cast an aspersion on Netaji’s courage of conviction,” the statement read, while drawing attention to the various official findings which established that Gumnami Baba was not Netaji.

It was pointed out in the statement that the Mukherjee Commission matched the DNA of Gumnanmi Baba and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and found that they were not of the same person. Similarly, Kolkata’s Forensic Science Laboratory confirmed that the hand writings of the two do not match.

The veterans also said that those spreading the theory that Gumnami Baba was Netaji should be brought to books.

On 22 February, Chandra Kumar Bose and other members of the Netaji’s family demanded the release of all Intelligence Bureau (IB) files on Gumnami Baba.

They also requested the Centre to launch an investigation to find out who are supporting the “false campaigns against the freedom fighter”.

“I am sorry to say that Mission Netaji has not just betrayed the Bose family but the entire nation and the honourable Prime Minister. Because without any documentary or photographic evidence, one cannot arrive at the conclusion that Gumnami Baba of Uttar Pradesh’s Faizabad was Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in disguise,” Chandra Kumar Bose told reporters.

Hoping that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will respond positively on the matter, Bose said that IB files will help reveal the identity of the anonymous person.

He said that the release of the DNA test of the alleged remains at Renkoji temple in Japan and three critical Japanese files might help solve the mystery around Netaji’s disappearance.

Bose also accused Anuj Dhar and Chandrachur Ghose, the founder-trustee members of Mission Netaji, of betraying the nation by spreading falsehood in their yet to be released book in which they have allegedly described the mysterious saint as Netaji.

He also criticised director Srijit Mukherjee, who is making a film titled ‘Gumnami,’ for allegedly claiming in an interview that his upcoming movie will portray Netaji as the “penniless recluse.”