Japanese report on Netaji's death 'inconclusive': Chandra Bose

Kolkata, Sept. 2 (ANI): Reacting to the de-classification of 60-year-old Japanese government's document on freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose's death, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member and grand nephew of Bose, Chandra Bose, on Friday said the report is inconclusive as the mystery still remains surrounding his disappearance. The Japanese Government released the documents on Thursday that concluded that Netaji died in a plane crash in Taiwan on 18 August, 1945. Speaking to ANI, Bose said that it is necessary to wait for the Indian Government to further de-classify the report. "This is not conclusive at all. It's the mystery of Netaji's disappearance that still remains. It is premature at this juncture to arrive at any conclusion when the process of de-classification is under way. The National Democratic Alliance(NDA)-led government, for the first time after independence, have de-classified the files and the process is on to put all files pertaining to him in the public domain, so let us wait for this process to be completed," he said. He pointed out that the report only contains sketches of the plane and people who sat in the plane, and does not count as substantial evidence to support the plane crash theory. "Now the Japanese report, which has recently been come out in website, only contains sketches of the aircraft. Where are the photographs? If a plane crash takes place there has to be a photograph or of the people who have died. There is not a single evidence to really conclusively establish the air crash, only some sketches and reports. These are not conclusive evidence in a court of law to establish the plane crash theory," he said. He also pointed out that the Justice Mukherjee Commission report clearly stated that the Taiwan authorities gave it in writing that there was no air crash on the August 18, 1945. "We need documentary proof to establish what happened to Subhas Chandra Bose after 18th Aug 1945," he added. In the report titled 'Investigation on the cause of death and other matters of the late Subhas Chandra Bose', reaches the conclusion that Netaji met with an air crash on 18 August, 1945 and died at a Taipei hospital the same evening. Immediately after taking off, the airplane in which he (Bose) rode fell to the ground, and he was wounded," the report notes in its 'Outline of the result of the investigation'. It further records that at "about 3.00 pm he entered the Nanmon Branch of Taipei Army Hospital"; and that at "about 7.00 pm he died". The findings also state that on "22 August, he was cremated (at the Taipei Municipal crematorium)". In a more detailed description of the incident, the report says, "After the plane had taken off and risen about 20 metres above the ground, one petal of the three-petaled propeller of the left wing was suddenly broken, and the engine fell off. "The airplane, subsequently unbalanced, crashed into ballast piles, beside the strip of the airport" and "was wrapped in flames in a moment. (ANI)