LONDON/NEW DELHI, July 10 � Mahatma Gandhi�s prized documents and photographs, including those on his controversial relationship with architect Hermann Kallenbach, were saved from going under the hammer as India bought the treasure trove for a whopping USD 1.28 million, reports PTI.
The archive, which belonged to Kallenbach, Gandhi�s close friend and German Jewish bodybuilder, was to be auctioned at Sotheby�s today but it was cancelled after the back-channel talks by the Indian Government with the auction house and the family members of Kallenbach helped India take possession of the rare documents.
The documents will now be housed at the National Archives of India in New Delhi.
An agreement was finalised in consultation with the Ministry of External Affairs and National Archives of India and was signed by the three parties � the Government of India, Sotheby�s and the family of Isa Sarid, the grandniece of Kallenbach.
