The extensive surveillance on Bose had a political objective, according to a top official of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), who now lives a life of quiet retirement. ‘Subhas Bose was alive and if he had appeared in India in the mid-1950s, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s position would be at risk. Subhas Bose had the charisma to win the elections and upstage Nehru. Thus, IB was deployed to find out where he was and what he was doing,’ the officer told this writer, breaking his silence of many years.
