Truth behind Subhas Chandra Bose's death: Why we need a closure br It's more than 70 years and so many questions still remain unanswered. br br Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose has found an enduring place in the hearts and minds of his people. It is now seventy-two years since Netaji disappeared. it is alleged that he died in an air crash in Taipei (then Formosa) on August 18, 1945. But questions remain. br br On August 16, 1945, the Japanese who had been Netaji’s allies in South-East Asia during the Second World War and had supported him to form and arm the Indian National Army to fight the British on their eastern front, were escorting Netaji to safety. The Second World War was effectively over by then with the defeat of Nazi Germany in May 1945, and the surrender of Japan on August 15, 1945, following the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945. br br The mystery surrounding what really happened to Netaji after August 18, 1945, continues to challenge us despite three official inquiries. The official Japanese report of the incident is that there was indeed an air crash on August 18, 1945 and Netaji died as a result of third degree burns that he sustained when the said military aircraft caught fire on hitting the ground from a height of about a hundred feet as reported by Habib-ur Rahman and other so-called eye-witnesses.