New Delhi, April 2 : BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Thursday criticised the Congress party for what he described as the "illegal detention" of Dr Colonel B. Ramchandra Rao, a member of the Azad Hind Fauj, labelling it a "dark chapter".

Notably, Rao was a witness before the G.D. Khosla Commission (1970-74) regarding Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, claiming that Netaji survived the plane crash and attempted to reach Russia.

Dubey said, "Everyone should know that a freedom fighter and doctor was held in illegal custody for five years. This is a dark chapter of the Congress."

Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, he said, "Doctor Colonel B. Ramchandra Rao was the personal doctor of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and he wanted to conduct a press conference in 1965-66 stating that Netaji's plane did not crash. No plane crash occurred on that Day. He (Rao) himself bid him farewell on the flight as Netaji left for Russia."

"When the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi got to know this, then in 1965, a case was registered against him. An unnecessary case against a member of the Azad Hind Fauj. On April 2, 1966, he was arrested in Andhra Pradesh. He was illegally confined in prison, he was physically and mentally tortured," Dubey claimed.

According to the BJP MP, whatever Ramchandra Rao said before the Khosla committee was discarded, "terming him mentally unfit".

He further alleged, "In the declassified files released by the government, it is clearly mentioned that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose did go to Russia. If he (Bose) was killed in a plane crash, why were the phones of his (Netaji's) family members tapped from 1947 to 1956? Why were they kept under surveillance? I have put out that document too (on X)."

"The thing is, he was about to speak about the role of (late Prime Minister) Jawaharlal Nehru. He was to speak that if Subhas Bose is alive, he would be kept in whose custody? He was about to speak about the bombing on the Azad Hind Fauj in 1945 and about the history of the Nehru-Gandhi family," Dubey added.

Nishikant Dubey appealed to the youth to research and verify the points themselves.

"... I would earnestly request the younger generation, Gen Z, to thoroughly research the points I am making. Todayâ??s youth are educated and so connected with technology and the Internet that they can find out exactly what it is in just a second," he said.

"It is my request to all the youths to research themselves and find out whether what I am saying is correct or not," he reiterated.

He also posted on his X handle, "Dr. Ramchandra Rao Ji, a soldier of the Azad Hind Fauj, was held in illegal custody for 5 years by Indira Gandhi Ji, and was declared insane. He was released only after a Supreme Court order. The motive was that evidence of Subhash Chandra Bose Ji being alive should not reach the public. Those who ordered firing on the Azad Hind Fauj remained hidden. The history of India's partition was kept concealed."

/IANS