The many questions around Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's death that still remains a mystery since 1945

New Delhi, Jan 23: As the nation pays homage to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, there is one question which remains shrouded in secrecy till date is the circumstances of his demise - the time, year, and location of his passing away.

We commemorate his death anniversary on 18 August every year as it is widely believed that Netaji died in a plane crash in Taipei (Japanese Taiwan) on that day in 1945. The initial investigations carried out by the British Army, the government of British India, the government of Japan, and the Allied Forces also suggested and concluded that Netaji suffered severe burns during the crash and later died in a hospital on the same day. But a section of people rejected the narrative and believed that he survived the air crash and went into hiding to escape the British. There have been many reports that suggest the legendary freedom fighter and the founder of Azad Hind Fauz (AHF) spent his last days living in disguise in Faizabad, near Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.

For years, some rumours claimed that Gumnami Baba, who had an uncanny resemblance with the freedom fighter was in fact Netaji in disguise. According to reports, he entered Uttar Pradesh via Nepal in the guise of an ascetic (sadhu) and started staying in Ram Bhava in Faizabad near Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh from 1983. He remained a complete recluse and interacted with only a handful of 'believers' who visited him on a regular basis. He never stepped out of his house, rather room, and majority of the people claim to have never seen him.

Strangely, there is no proof that any person really died. Though his real identity and activities remained obscure, a great number of people maintain that he was freedom fighter Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. He reportedly breathed his last on September 16, 1985 in Faizabad and was cremated on Sept 18, 1985.

In 1999, following a court order, the Indian government appointed retired Supreme Court judge Manoj Kumar Mukherjee to look into the death of Netaji. Although oral accounts were in favour of the plane crash, the commission concluded that what the public had speculated for years that Netaji did not die in a plane crash, and the ashes in the Japanese temple is not his.

Mysterious Death of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose

In 2006, Nizamuddin, a 102-year-old man claiming to be Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's driver-cum-bodyguard said that the freedom fighter was not killed in a Taipei air crash , but died a natural death in oblivion, decades later in Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh. Nizamuddin reminisced that he met Netaji and brother Sharat Chandra Bose in 1946 over a bridge on a river in Thailand, a year after the alleged death the in air-crash. Netaji allegedly told him that "Indian leaders, in collusion with the British and US governments, were playing a political game using his alleged death."

In 1971 in Varanasi, Nizamuddin met Swami, the Madrasi right-hand man of Netaji, who confided in him that Netaji was alive and residing in oblivion in Faizabad district under the disguised of Gumnami Baba. He recalled that he never doubted Swami's startling revelation, as Netaji had mastered the art of 'disguise', using it many times to hoodwink the Britishers. He said his last meeting with Netaji was in Thailand. As per Swami, Netaji, who was then living as Gumnami Baba, was happy that the country had gained independence, but thought the battle had been partially lost with the nation's partition. The Bengali lady who had given him shelter also passed away later in Faizabad.