Despite many similarities, 'Gumnami Baba' alias 'Bhagwanji' was not Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, concluded the (retd) Justice Vishnu Sahai Commission recently.
The Commission was set up to resolve the mystery surrounding Gumnami Baba, who lived in Uttar Pradesh's Faizabad town, about 125 kilometres from here, and resembled Netaji. He died in 1985. His tomb was situated at Guptar Ghat on the Saryu river in Ayodhya.
Several articles, including round-rimmed glasses, similar to the ones used by Netaji as per pictures of some family members of Bose, had been recovered from the box that belonged to Gumnami Baba, a monk, who lived incognito in Faizabad.
The Commission, whose report was tabled in the UP assembly recently, said that there were many similarities between Netaji and Gumnami Baba.
''He was Netaji's follower,'' the Commission observed in the report.
''Gumnami Baba was Bengali.....he had good knowledge of Hindi, English and Bangla languages....many books written in these languages were found from his house,'' the report said.
The report said that like Netaji, the voice of Gumnami Baba too was extremely effective and powerful and attracted the people toward him. ''He spent a secluded life in Faizabad and not mixed much with the people,'' it added.
The Commission had been set up on the direction of the court in 2016 by the then Akhilesh Yadav government in UP. It had submitted its report to the governor in September 2017.