**THE LION OF AZAD HIND**
*The Untold Saga of Major Durga Malla—The Gorkha Warrior Who Defied an Empire for India’s Freedom*

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To the British High Command, he was Signal Havildar Durga Malla of the 2/1 Gorkha Rifles—a disciplined soldier trained in the art of modern warfare, military topography, and elite battlefield communications. To Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, he was a fearless commander of the Azad Hind Fauj: **Major Durga Malla**.

When the British Empire abandoned over 85,000 soldiers at Singapore in 1942, Durga Malla made a fateful choice that shattered the colonial myth of Gorkha subservience. Tearing off the King-Emperor’s insignia, he picked up arms for the liberation of his own motherland, mobilizing hundreds of his comrades to join the vanguard of the Indian National Army.

Handpicked by Netaji for the INA’s elite Intelligence and Reconnaissance Wing, Major Durga Malla led daring, deep-penetration operations behind enemy lines. In the treacherous, malaria-infested jungles of the Burma-Assam frontier, he mapped Allied supply lines, intercepted encrypted British radio ciphers, and cleared the path for the historic march on Imphal and Kohima.

Captured on the battlefield in 1944 and hauled in chains to the Red Fort, he faced the wrath of the British Crown. When imperial officials brought his young bride into his condemned cell, offering him life, wealth, and pardon if he denounced Netaji and signed a plea for royal mercy, Major Durga Malla stood unyielding. Choosing the noose over imperial compromise, he walked calmly to the gallows of Delhi District Jail at just thirty-one years of age.

Packed with authentic military history, high-stakes espionage, and an unbreakable love for the motherland, this definitive biography uncovers the extraordinary life of the first Gorkha martyr of the Azad Hind Fauj.

**Step into the harrowing true story of a Himalayan patriot who turned his back on imperial privilege, outwitted British intelligence on the frontlines of World War II, and gave his life so that India might live free.**