The Andaman and Nicobar islands were occupied by Japan during World War II . The islands were nominally put under the authority of the Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind ( Provisional Government of Free India ) headed by Subhas Chandra Bose , who visited the islands during the war , and renamed them as Shaheed ( Martyr ) & Swaraj ( Self-rule ) . On 30 December 1943 , during the Japanese occupation , Bose , who was allied with the Japanese , first raised the flag of Indian independence . General Loganathan , of the Indian National Army , was Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands , which had been annexed to the Provisional Government . According to Werner Gruhl : " Before leaving the islands , the Japanese rounded up and executed 750 innocents . " At the close of World War II , the British government announced its intention to abolish the penal settlement . The government proposed to employ former inmates in an initiative to develop the island 's fisheries , timber , and agricultural resources . In exchange , inmates would be granted return passage to the Indian mainland , or the right to settle on the islands . J H Williams , one of the Bombay Burma Company 's senior officials , was dispatched to perform a timber survey of the islands using convict labor . He recorded his findings in ' The Spotted Dear ' ( 1957 )
executed 750 innocents
Japanese war crimes
Andaman Islands