CHENNAI: Following his discovery of a report by the
French secret service
(Surêté) suggesting that
Subhas Chandra Bose didn't die in an air crash and was still alive in 1947 (“
Netaji didn't die in air crash, says secret French report“ TOI dated July 16), Paris-based historian JBP More has found a related document that appears to support his finding.
The summary of the Information of the Intelligence Service of Saigon (
Saigon Control Commission
, Secret) written to the Supreme Allied Commander of Southeast Asia on 26 September 1945, which More found in the National Archives of France, says, “Seven Indians of whom three are big personalities of the
Indian Independence League
(IIL) and members of the
Hikari Kikan
have been arrested for interrogation." According to More, the arrests were made in August after the defeat of Japan.
"Four others were local league leaders, of whom I know two by name. I have a strong feeling that of the three IIL personalities arrested, one was Subhas Chandra Bose himself," said More.
More went on to connect the dots between the 1945 document and the 1947 secret service report. “Now, connecting this document of 26 September 1945, with the secret service report of 11 December 1947, it suggests that Bose was in the custody of the French or English from August 1945 as a war criminal," said More, who teaches at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Economiques et Commerciales, Paris.
But two years later, in December 1947, the report says that he had escaped. "The term 'evadé' has been used to signify 'escape'. But in French, this term has a special meaning. An evadé is somebody who was arrested already or in custody before he escaped. There can be no escape without being arrested or caught," said More. "So Bose was arrested in August 1945 and was kept in custody. If we are to believe the secret report of 1947, he escaped altogether from Indochina," said More.
Besides, it is also reported in the 26 September 1945 document that 'marchandises precieuses' belonging to the IIL and INA were retrieved, presumably from the Secretariat of the Indian Independence League at 76, rue Paul Blanchy (presently Hai Ba Trung). "'Marchandises precieuses' in French could be Bose's war treasure. I do not know what happened to this treasure. I checked the files but I did not find any reference. I think the persons who retrieved it had simply shared it among themselves. That is why we could never find the treasure of Bose accumulated from the Indians of Southeast Asia to free India," said More.