Gumnami baba’s belongings link with Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose
11 March, Faizabad
As the articles of Gumnami Baba alias Bhagwanji are being opened at the district treasury here during the past couple of days, the baba’s link with Subhash Chandra Bose is apparently getting boosted.
Yesterday, speculation gained momentum that the Baba could be Netaji when inland letters and telegrams written by and received from Dr Pabitra Mohan Roy, a senior official of Bose’s Indian National Army’s intelligence wing, surfaced among the belongings of the Baba.
In all, 197 items probed by Justice Mukherjee Commission were viewed yesterday while opening the two sealed boxes. Cross-checking and matching of items and inventories are underway for the past couple of days.
Till now as many as 1,721 items from 24 boxes, excluding the items of two boxes opened yesterday, had been placed in the inventory made by the administrative committee, to be later handed over to the technical committee for chemical treatment, preservation and display.
District magistrate Yogeshwar Ram Mishra, who is also monitoring the process, said here today that, the process of listing items will be completed over the next two days. He said that all the items would be kept at the Ram Katha museum.
Sources here said that at least 50 inland letters, along with receipts of money orders and telegrams were seen yesterday along with 14 maps between 1949 to 1972. A hand-made map of Bangladesh mentioning Padma river and some other rivers was also found. A telegram dated March 31, 1985 sent by Dr P M Roy, reads, “Accept our pranaam on the day of Basanti Durga Puja.”
Another important find was a letter sent to the Prime Minister’s office ,dated August 19, 1977, requesting to re-examine evidence submitted to the Khosla Commission and Shahnawaz Commission vis-a-vis the Taihoku plane crash. The letter was signed by Dr RC Mazumdar, the then vice-chancellor of Kolkata university, S K Mukherjee, Ashok Kumar Sarkar (chief editor of Anand Bazar Patrika), N D Majumdar, Praful Chandra Sen (ex-INA secretary) and ex-advocate general Anil Kumar Dutta.
The list of inventory also mentions an overcoat. Besides a copy of the book Himalayan Blunder was also spotted. It had several portions of its text underlined and notings made on almost every second page. Some notings were termed as ‘Imp’ (important), while other as ‘M Imp’ (most important).