The Central Forensic Laboratory (CFSL) in Kolkata has rejected to disclose the electropherogram report of the DNA sample of Gumnami Baba, which some claim was Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose disguised as a sadhu, citing Sections 8(1)(A), (E), and 11(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005.
In reply to an RTI request from Sayak Sen, a resident of Konnagar in Hooghly, the CFSL agreed that the electropherogram report of Gumnami Baba’s DNA sample, who died in 1985, is in its possession.
Although it is generally believed that Netaji died in an aeroplane crash in Taiwan on August 18, 1945, some suggest that he survived the crash and went into hiding to evade the then-British government.
Sayak Sen told India Today that the CFSL denied his RTI plea, stating that it would not provide the electropherogram report for three reasons. “I’ve been notified that the electropherogram cannot be provided for three reasons. Most importantly, making it public may have an impact on India’s sovereignty and ties with other countries,” Sen said.
Sen also asked why a man who lived in a distant area of Uttar Pradesh would matter so much to India’s international relations and make such a commotion in the country if his electropherogram was revealed to the public.
“Gumnami Baba was clearly more than a common man, and he was special. As per my research, he was Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose in disguise,” Sen asserted.
The RTI application had sought, whether the electropherogram report of Gumnami Baba’s DNA test conducted under the supervision of Mukherjee Commission is available in Calcutta CFSL, if not available the report of the destruction of the report, and if the report exists, hand over the report to the petitioner. He plea had noted that the report was not given to the Mukherjee Commission and the Mukherjee Commission has been abolished now. In its reply, CFSL said that it still has the report and it has not been destroyed, but it can’t be handed over.
An electropherogram is a plot depicting the results of an electrophoresis automated sequencing analysis. An electropherogram is a data series produced by automated DNA sequencing equipment. Electropherograms can be used to determine the outcomes of genealogical DNA testing and paternity testing.
Notably, a section of people who believe that Bose survived the plane crash argues that after disguising his name, Netaji lived in several locales in Uttar Pradesh, including Naimisharanya (Nimsar), Basti, Ayodhya, and Faizabad. Following Gumnami Baba’s death in 1985, the Mukherjee Commission, established by the then-Central government, failed to substantiate that Gumnami Baba was Bose since handwriting and DNA test results indicated otherwise.
