Charismatic Indian freedom fighter Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose is officially said to have died in a plane crash in August 1945 in Taiwan
His plane is said to have taken off from Vietnam, at the time a part of the region called Indo China
His ashes are said to be housed at Renkoji Temple in Tokyo, Japan
Many do not believe that Bose died in an air crash. Some say he survived and lived much longer
Some believe he escaped to Russia where he was caught and put in prison
Puducherry historian J B Prashant More in his book, “Bose And His Movement” published this year says Bose never took the plane from Saigon
He disappeared in Indo China which was until then controlled by Japanese
The Japanese wanted to help him disappear as they were surrendering after the atom bombs had been dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Bose would have otherwise been tried as a war criminal by the Allied forces – Britain, US and Soviet Union
Historian More says there is no material evidence to support the theory of the air crash death of Bose
More’s grandfather Leon Prouchandy was Bose’s close associate in Indo China. Prouchandy was Tamil
Prouchandy's family believes he was caught and tortured by the British, as he lost his physical and mental faculties and became unable to recognise anyone
More found that the British army head Douglas Gracey wrote to Mountbatten that British forces in Indo China had captured three Indian leaders
More says one was Prouchandy and the other must have been Bose
One French secret service document too talks about three Indian members of Hikari Kikan, a Japanese organization supporting Bose
More argues that Bose wouldn’t have remained silent about partition and Indian independence if he had been alive
It is most likely that the British had captured Bose in Vietnam and that he wasn't alive after March 1946
Another French document yet to be declassified talks about Bose and his government in exile. If that document is declassified, we may know the truth