By Anuj Dhar

In 1945, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was Empire's most wanted. He was the only Indian to take the British bull by its horns. When Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945, Netaji was on the run from the Allied Forces.

And when the news came that he died in a plane crash, the first reaction was that it was a subterfuge and that it was something that he would have done to continue the freedom struggle.

Within a month of the crash, a team headed by Superintendent of Police Finney reached Southeast Asia to make an on the spot enquiry.

Another independent inquiry was conducted by Lt. Col Figgess of the Counter Intelligence Corps General headquarters, United States Armed Forces.

A third enquiry was carried out by Combined Services Detailed Intelligence Centre. In the course of this enquiry B C Chakravarty interrogated Bose's ADC Colonel Habibur Rahman, main witness to the crash, in Delhi's Red Fort.

All these inquiries concluded that Netaji died as a result of the plane crash in Taipei, Taiwan. However, Mr Chakravarty told Khosla Commission in 1971 that Col Habib was concealing facts during interrogation.

In all these enquiries, a major role was played by W N P Jenkins, the deputy chief of Intelligence Bureau who in turn took information from operatives like Major Hugh Toye. Toye (83) has consistently said that Bose died in 1945.

In 1946, a journalist Hiren Shah made an on the spot inquiry in Taiwan and said Netaji had indeed died there. He went on to write a book The Gallant End of Netaji. This was sort of an independent confirmation.

Soon after the independence, demands were raised to probe Netaji's 'death'. In 1951, the government told Parliament that various communications and reports went on to establish that Netaji had indeed died but would not divulge the dates and sources of various "communications and reports".

The government, however, revealed that it had sent S A Ayer, a former Publicity Minister of Azad Hind Government to Tokyo to ascertain Netaji's death. HindustanTimes.com is in possession of a carbon copy of this secret report and it is just a repeat of the official line.

Yet another inquiry was launched by senior police officer Rai Bahadur Bakshi Badrinath in 1946 in tandem with the Intelligence Bureau. Bakshi Badrinath passed away in 1984 in Delhi. According to Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Kuldip Bakshi, his father Bakshi Badri Nath presented his comprehensive report in 3 parts in separate thick volumes. He concluded that Netaji had died.

The Government of India constituted Shahnawaz committee and Khosla Commission in 1956 and 1971 respectively and both said Netaji died in 1945 air crash. In addition to that, Prime Minister Nehru asked MP Surendra Mohan Ghosh to find out whether the sadhu of Shoulmari was actually Netaji.

Claims have also been made regarding separate probes by Mountbatten and General MacArthur of US Army. Americans reached Taiwan within days of the crash.

In 1966, some Indian parliamentarians visited Taipei. On their return, one of the members informed the Khosla Commission that one Taiwanese Government official told them that their probe found no traces of any air crash on that day.

The Mukherjee Commission, the latest one to be set up by the Vajpayee Government, has asked the Government to make available to it the 'alleged report' and a letter send by Taiwanese Premier Chiang-ki-Shek to Pandit Nehru. The Government's response, as in other cases, is still awaited.

In fact, there have been reports that every non-Congress tried to revive probe into Netaji mystery. Former Prime Minister (late) Morarji Desai is said to have even suggested an investigative inquiry as he felt that an open judicial inquiry would not be very useful after so many years.

Both VP Singh and Chandrashekhar governments also toyed with the idea of fresh probes. VP Singh reportedly asked his Foreign Minister I K Gujral to look into the matter. In 1991, former Deputy Minister for External Affairs Digvijay Singh wrote that his ministry had "initiated follow-up action" with regard to investigation into secret documents on Netaji's disappearance.

On all such occasions, the matter fell through, as the governments could not last their full terms.

The latest one-man commission of inquiry headed by Justice Manoj Kumar Mukherjee was constituted by Vajpayee Government in May 1999. The Commission was expected to give its report in six months. Nearly three years later, the Commission is awaiting some Top Secret files on Subhas Bose from the Government of India.