Netaji cap at Red Fort museum ‘not original’, family seeks probe into artefact

Chandra Kumar Bose, grandnephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, has raised fresh doubts over the cap displayed at the Netaji Museum inside Delhi’s Red Fort, alleging that the artefact currently on display may not be the original and calling for an investigation to verify its authenticity.

The development comes days after Bose had claimed that Netaji’s cap, earlier handed over by the family and placed at the museum, had gone missing from its display case. The issue has since drawn attention after he appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to look into the matter.

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In a post on X on Saturday, Bose said the cap has now been placed back at the museum following the Prime Minister’s intervention, but researchers and people familiar with the original artefact believe the one currently displayed looks different.

“Netaji researchers and those who had previously seen this said cap feel that this isn’t the original cap,” Bose wrote.

Grateful to Hon’ble Prime Minister-Shri @narendramodi ji for taking prompt action on the #NetajiCap issue. It is his personal intervention that Netaji’s cap has been placed back in the Netaji and INA museum at the Red Fort. However, Netaji researchers and those who had… https://t.co/tsz5WTyUvy pic.twitter.com/Hk5sEuzhi0

— Chandra Kumar Bose (@Chandrakbose) March 13, 2026

Also Read: Historical scare: Netaji’s cap goes ‘missing’ from Red Fort Museum… only to turn up on ‘display duty’ at Port Blair

Cap was handed over to PM in 2019

According to Bose, members of Netaji’s family had handed over the cap worn by the freedom fighter to Prime Minister Modi in 2019, requesting that it be preserved at the Red Fort museum dedicated to him.

He had earlier said the Prime Minister personally placed the cap inside a glass display case during the museum’s inauguration on Netaji’s birth anniversary that year.

Concerns emerged recently after a member of the Open Platform for Netaji reportedly visited the museum and found the cap missing from its display location, prompting the family to raise the matter publicly and write to the Prime Minister.

Bose said he is grateful for the prompt action taken after the issue was highlighted, but insisted that the cap currently kept at the museum should be properly authenticated.

“Shall be obliged if an investigation & proper authentication could be done to establish that this is the original,” he said.

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose remains one of India’s most respected freedom fighters, and artefacts linked to him are considered historically significant.