The enigma of Bose and the 'mystery' of his 'disappearance' (IANS Explainer)

Subhash Chandra Bose was persona of great mystification. As much as his life held the unwavering zeal and gusto to see a sovereign India, despite being at stark variance with the stalwarts who went on to be the founding fathers of this nation, his death, too, has been a subject of as much perplexity.

On August 18, 1945, Netaji is said to have succumbed to third-degree burns when his plane crashed upon take off in Tiwan's Taipei, which was then under Japanese occupation. Bose had gone into a coma before he died between 9 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The crash instantly claimed the pilot, co-pilot, and Lieutenant General Tsunamasa Shidei of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. Their aircraft crashed shortly after the official surrender of Japan. Shidei and Bose were on their way to Dairen, where Bose was to speak with negotiators from the USSR about political asylum and turning over control of the Indian National Army