Beneath The Orange Rain

Beneath The Orange Rain
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NARRATOR: This is True Spies, the podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time. Week by week, you’ll hear the true stories behind the operations that have shaped the world we live in. You’ll meet the people who live life undercover. What do they know? What are their skills? And what would you do in their position?

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: The stakes were extremely high. They knew that this mission was the first step toward a war that was imminent. It was just their sheer willpower that had sustained them over many months and they were at that moment now when they had to attack. 

NARRATOR: I’m Daisy Ridley, and this is True Spies, from SPYSCAPE Studios. Beneath The Orange Rain. August 1971. Deep in the Sundarbans, in Bangladesh - at this point still officially East Pakistan - a group of men lie silent under the patchy cover of the mangroves. No one moves a muscle.

SANDEEP SAKET: They were hiding in bushes right in front of a Pakistani military patrol. And if they were exposed or discovered then their entire mission would be kaput. 

NARRATOR: The men exchange tense glances as one of the military patrolmen hops out of a jeep and approaches their cover. Mere feet from their hiding place, he unzips his fly and begins to urinate.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: Their capture would most certainly lead to death. But that was not what they were scared of. Their capture could jeopardize the entire operation that had been meticulously planned for more than four months. So that was what they were facing at the moment.

NARRATOR: The crouching men are armed with STEN submachine guns, and they outnumber the Pakistani patrol. But they’re under strict orders to avoid confrontation at all costs. There are bigger objectives at stake. 

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: These men are highly trained commandos. They had to be quick and coordinated, and they had only one mission, which was to cut off the water access of West Pakistan into Bangladesh. 

NARRATOR: This ambitious, covert mission is itself part of a wider plot - to expel Pakistani forces from Bangladesh and end a brutal genocide that has, since March, made headlines around the world. Cutting off the Pakistani Navy’s access to Bangladesh, if successful, would deal a crippling blow to their campaign. And now, this particular group of commandos is within spitting distance of their destination: the Chittagong Port. But if the patrolman - now finishing his business and idly scanning his surroundings - takes even one step further into the bush, they will surely be exposed. At the front of the pack, with the lingering patrolman in his sights - and a finger on the trigger of his gun - the commando in charge signals his men to hold their nerve.

SANDEEP SAKET: The commander was Abdul Wahed Chowdhury. He was tasked with leading these men into Bangladesh and to affect this mission, which was of great importance. 

NARRATOR: To understand just how important this mission is to Commander Abdul Wahed Chowdhury, we’ll need to go back. Back to the first days of the war for liberation that is tearing this land apart. It’s time to meet the two people who will guide you through this bloody chapter of South Asian history.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: Hi, I’m Anusha Nandakumar. I'm a writer/director working in the Indian film industry, or Bollywood as you know it. And I'm the author of the book The War That Made R&AW.

SANDEEP SAKET: Hi. This is Sandeep Saket. I'm also working in the Bombay film industry and I'm co–author of the book with Anusha.

NARRATOR: In their book, The War That Made R&AW, Anusha and Sandeep wade into the murky waters of the Bangladesh Liberation War and uncover the untold role of covert operations in deciding its fate. Of those operations, none was more important than “Jackpot”. This was a mission that had been set in place months previously and into which countless hours of meticulous planning had been poured. It was a mission born out of the most volatile of geopolitical situations, and the most dangerous of physical conditions. It was a mission entirely specific to the context of Pakistan, and its neighboring countries, in 1971. To begin to understand it, you’ll need to understand the region.

SANDEEP SAKET: After the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, Pakistan was divided into two parts: east and west. East was present-day Bangladesh, and west was present-day Pakistan, with India's mainland separating them about 1,800 kilometers in the middle.

NARRATOR: The partition was drawn as such because both regions contained majority Muslim populations. Grounds enough, at the time, to declare them a geographically disparate, but ideologically united single nation: Pakistan. But in the years that followed the partition, a power imbalance between East and West quickly came to the surface.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: All of the power was in West Pakistan. And for them, the East was a step-sibling. They didn't care about the East so much, although they were getting a lot of wealth from the East because the land in Bangladesh was very fertile. So agriculture was a very big occupation there. They would get all of the advantages and the money from the East, but they were completely disregarding it when it came to development. 

NARRATOR: Despite religious similarities, there were vast cultural differences between the two regions.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: There was a movement in East Pakistan on the basis of language. And there were a lot of discontented men that were rising. People were very angry. The ’60s especially was the time when this movement was getting a voice of its own. It was called the Language Movement. And within this movement emerged a student leader who was known as Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

NARRATOR: As the leader of a political party called the Awami League, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was the first public figure to give voice to a sentiment that had been bubbling up in East Pakistan for years. He wanted to declare a new nation called Bangladesh.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: And in 1966, Rahman was also instrumental in drafting a six-point program, which is a constitution of sorts, putting forth the demands of the Bangladeshis.

NARRATOR: Rahman was enormously popular in East Pakistan, where he soon became known by another name: Bangabandhu or ‘friend of the Bengalis.’

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: He then went on to lead an uprising in Bangladesh, calling for democratic elections for both the Pakistans and in 1970. Because of this, the first democratic elections were held in Pakistan for both East and West.

NARRATOR: In the seat of power in West Pakistan, the Pakistani president Yahya Khan - and his close ally Zulfikar Ali Bhutto - were confident that a democratic election would quash this pesky call for East Pakistan independence once and for all. But they critically underestimated the popular appeal of Bangabandhu and his Awami League.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: Rahman and Awami League emerged victorious. They had a landslide majority and he was a leader in waiting, waiting to be crowned.

NARRATOR: Of course, holding an election was one thing. Honoring its results - something else entirely. 

SANDEEP SAKET: The results were declared in early December 1970. but the formation of the government was deferred continuously from December to January to February to March. So these two Western Pakistani leaders and the president of the time, Yahya Khan and Bhutto, pretended to negotiate with Rahman to concede some power.

NARRATOR: While the West Pakistani leaders ostensibly negotiated terms for the transferral of power, behind the scenes they had something else in mind.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: They wanted the power back one way or the other. And for that, they knew they had to silence Rahman and the only way to do that would be to launch a military operation. 

NARRATOR: That fateful military operation, known as Operation Searchlight, was launched by Yahya Khan on March 25, 1971, a date never forgotten by the people of Bangladesh.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: Operation Searchlight is known as one of the worst genocides in history. They looted homes. Lots and lots of innocent people were murdered, women raped, and even children were not spared. It was unbelievable carnage. Later on, reports say that anywhere between three to around 30 million people were killed. And they did all of this to capture the one man they were desperate to get, which was Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

NARRATOR: But Rahman wasn’t entirely unprepared for the attack.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: So Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had an inkling that West Pakistan is planning something horrific. And he knew that it probably would be the last time that he could address his people. So he escaped from his home and in secrecy he recorded a message calling for the independent state of Bangladesh and motivating his countrymen to keep up the good fight even if something happened to him. 

NARRATOR: That address read as follows: This may be my last message. From today Bangladesh is independent. I call upon the people of Bangladesh wherever you might be and with whatever you have, to resist the army occupation to the last. Your fight must go on until the last soldier of the Pakistan occupation army is expelled from the soil of Bangladesh and final victory is achieved. On March 26, 1971, as West Pakistani military forces tore their way through East Pakistan hunting down the leader of the Awami League, Rahman’s message was broadcast on radio stations around the world. This is how one Abdul Wahed Chowdhury - he who you last heard crouching in the mangroves of the Sundarbans  - learned of the genocide in his country, and the capture of Rahman. He was, at the time, thousands of miles from home in France.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: Chowdhury is aboard PNS Mangro, a Pakistani naval submarine docked in Toulon, and he was part of a 40-member West and East Pakistani crew. And of this 40-member crew, there were around 13 ethnic Bengalis there. And as usual, they tuned in to their radios, and first, they heard a speech by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: And then later on, he heard the news about Operation Searchlight. So that was where everything changed for him. 

NARRATOR: Since childhood, all Chowdhury had ever wanted was to fight for his country.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: He was born in East Pakistan, Bangladesh, and he always wanted to be in the Armed Forces, but his parents were not very willing to let their son go so he ran away from home and joined the Army. And later on, he became part of the Navy. So Abdul Wahed Chowdhury was a Telegraph First on the PNS Mangro in Toulon in France, and he had really worked his way up. And he was a young man in his 20s, very passionate about serving his country, and extremely brave.

NARRATOR: But now, he found himself part of the same military that was, at that very moment, wreaking carnage on his homeland. Bangabandhu’s words pierced to the very core of his being: I call upon the people of Bangladesh wherever you might be and with whatever you have, to resist the army occupation to the last.

SANDEEP SAKET: When Chowdhury and his fellow Bengalis heard Sheikh Mujibur Rahman call for independence and also about what is about to happen to the country and about the genocide that they heard on the radio, their hearts bled. Chowdhury immediately wanted to go back home and fight for his fellow countrymen, but he knew that it wouldn't be easy. 

NARRATOR: Chowdhury understood that he would never be granted leave to return to East Pakistan. If he wanted out, he would have to escape.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: So after the events of March 25, Chowdhury was extremely charged up and he knew that he just wanted to go back and participate in the fight. But he knew that just like him, maybe all of the other ethnic Bengalis on the ship, maybe they felt the same thing. So he started speaking to each of them personally. Of the 13 people on board, eight decided to join him and it was decided that they would escape on April 1 when the ship would be docked. Over five days, Chowdahry slowly stole the passports of the men. They started packing up their belongings and valuables and started shipping them to friends and family. And on April 1, they left the ship at different times so as to not draw any suspicion.

NARRATOR: Hoping to find political asylum in neutral Geneva, the eight Bengalis arranged a rendezvous at Toulon’s train station.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: So they took a train to Switzerland but they didn't have visas, so they were forced to go back to France. By this time, the authorities aboard PNS Mangro had discovered that some of the men were missing. They immediately informed the French police, who informed the Secret Service as the men were somewhere on French soil illegally.

NARRATOR: And so begins a game of cat and mouse. If the French find the Bengali defectors and hand them back to their allies in Pakistan - well, I’m sure you can imagine the consequences.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: Chowdhury and his men went to Lyon first and they figured out that they didn't need a visa to enter Spain. So with the French police very close on their trail, these men escaped to Spain and went to the Indian Consulate in Barcelona. 

NARRATOR: India had, by this point, declared its support for the Bengali independence movement.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: Chowdhury declared his intentions to join India in the war against Pakistan for Bangladesh. They had an Indian secretary there, Bedi, who helped hide them and kept their identity a secret while he informed the authorities in India. The authorities asked Bedi to help smuggle the men into India so Bedi arranged for the papers and he put them on a flight to Rome.

NARRATOR: The submariners had now traveled through three European nations, speaking not a word of their respective languages, in their quest to return home. All with the French Secret Services hot on their heels.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: From Rome, they were to take the Air India New York-Delhi flight, which had a stopover in Rome but when they landed in Rome, they had terrible luck. The flight was delayed due to a strike in Pakistan. And by this time, Pakistani authorities and French authorities had come to know that these men were in Rome so immediately there was a change of plans.

NARRATOR: With the risk of capture greater than ever, it was back to square one.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: They were put on a flight to Geneva and they finally reached the Indian Embassy in Geneva, which was their original target. From there, they finally made their way back to New Delhi.

NARRATOR: Imagine the relief. At last, refuge in a nation friendly to the Bengali cause. But this was by no means the end of Chowdhury’s journey. For all of the turmoil that lay behind them, the true battle was yet to begin.

SANDEEP SAKET: When they reach India, they are met by Naval Chief Nanda and the members of the Research & Analysis Wing.

NARRATOR: The Research & Analysis Wing, otherwise known as R&AW or RAW, was India’s central intelligence agency. It had been formed just a few years earlier in 1968.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: It was formed because it would be India's first external intelligence-gathering agency before the formation of R&AW. India depended on its allies for external intelligence. But India had two failures in the 1962 war with China and the failure to gather intelligence into the 1965 Pakistani exclusion. And this showed a gaping hole and the need for a dedicated external intelligence agency. So in 1968, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi decided to create R&AW and [Rameshwar Nath Kao] R.N. Kao was its first leader. 

NARRATOR: It was this very leader, R.N. Kao, who was now grilling the eight Bengali submariners in New Delhi. 

SANDEEP SAKET: The men were questioned at length, and R&AW had to make sure that Chowdhury and his men were indeed passionate about the Bangladeshi cause and that this was not some elaborate ruse.

NARRATOR: The reason for this grilling? A suspicion that their story might be too good to be true. Since Operation Searchlight had begun in March, scores of Bengali refugees had been crossing the border into India.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: India at that point was still a young, independent nation. India was struggling with its internal issues and now they were burdened with the influx of refugees.

NARRATOR: India’s Prime Minister Indira Gandhi vocally supported the Bengali movement but she knew she had to tread carefully. Joining the war was, for the time being, off the table.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: Taking on Pakistan in March 1971 would mean declaring war and India would be seen as the instigator and the world would end up sympathizing with Pakistan. And Pakistan would get away with the genocide that they were inflicting. So India knew for her to get involved in this war, India would have to force Pakistan's hand and make them attack India first so that they could retaliate and not be seen as the aggressor.

NARRATOR: And so Gandhi’s official line was that the war was not hers to fight. She would remain neutral.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: But covertly, they were doing all they could because, in some ways, India knew that war was imminent. It was not a question of if. It was just a question of when. So first they gave refuge to the incoming refugees. They also, along with the help of R&AW, were involved in something known as the psywar, which is psychological warfare. They were getting in touch with the allies of India, and countries across the world, letting them know about the genocide and the situation in Bangladesh and building an atmosphere that would be suitable and helpful for India if they chose to go to war later on.

NARRATOR: Cultivating a sympathetic global attitude in the perception of the situation was important, but India’s covert activities extended well beyond the psychological. Behind the scenes, the Research & Analysis Wing did everything in their power to thwart Pakistan’s effort. One of their key objectives was to close off the country’s access to Indian airspace, thereby rendering the remote regions that made up Pakistan even harder to bridge, and making supply runs or personnel movement from West to East a logistical nightmare. 

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: But two countries during peacetime could not just affect this law. So Kao and R&AW decided that they needed a way to ban the Pakistani planes over the Indian airspace and they put together a truly daring mission. So what had happened was, some months ago a teenager was caught by the Indian Border Security Force and he claimed that he was coming from Pakistan. He was Kashmiri and he was sent by Pakistan to India to hijack an Indian plane. He was caught and he was presented to R&AW but instead of punishing him, Kao saw an opportunity here.

NARRATOR: Rather than punish this would-be hijacker, Kao saw the potential for crucial political leverage.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: So they decided that the hijacker, a mere teenager, would get what he initially had come for. They gave him access to a plane and passengers, and they brainwashed him to think that he was hijacking this plane. So the teenager with his cousin hijacked the plane and forced it to land in Lahore. The passengers on the plane were also playing along; the plane landed in Lahore and it became big international news at the time. Because the news spread, Pakistan was forced to act on humanitarian grounds and to secure the freedom of all passengers and crew from the plane and transfer them safely to India.

NARRATOR: All of those Indian passengers made it home unharmed, of course. There had never been any risk of actual violence.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: But India played up this hijacking and told the world that it was no longer safe for India to let Pakistan flights cross its airspace. And just like that, Pakistani civilian and military flights were banned over Indian airspace.

NARRATOR: An ingenious plot - and one that put a painful dent in the Pakistani military effort. And that’s to say nothing of R&AW’s approach on the ground.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: They also organized the incoming refugees because the refugees also had a large number of military personnel that had run away from Bangladesh. So India helped train them, organize them, and made a potent fighting force of them, which they called the Mukti Bahini [Bangladesh Forces] or the Freedom Force.

NARRATOR: The Mukti Bahini was a pure guerilla force, designed to obstruct the Pakistani military at every turn.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: So Mukti Bahini, with the help of R&AW, was involved in the covert sabotage of several important Pakistani military installations, roads, railway bridges, telegrams, and telegraph lines. And they went deep into Bangladesh to carry out these missions because they were Bangladeshi refugees and they knew the territory very well. 

NARRATOR: Their aim was to weaken the Pakistani effort as much as possible while Indian forces gathered their strength and prepared for war - not a simple undertaking, given the region’s climate.

SANDEEP SAKET: The Indian subcontinent is very different in its weather conditions. So from June until September, there is a heavy monsoon which happens in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh - and especially Bangladesh, which is situated in a delta of two rivers of Brahmaputra Ganges. Almost two-thirds of the country becomes very inundated with two river waters. And that is a perfect time as an interlude while the Indian military prepared for war. India, with the help of the Research & Analysis Wing and military, launched covert guerrilla operations missions deep in Bangladeshi territories. And these are guerillas in their approach because the monsoon and the floods made moving heavy military equipment impossible in Bangladesh and these very lean, very agile forces and fighters of Mukti Bahini, could actually penetrate deep in Bangladesh. 

NARRATOR: In other words, the Mukti Bahini were trained and organized by the Research & Analysis Wing - but [populated] by the Bengali refugees who had been streaming into India since Operation Searchlight began. Refugees exactly like Chowdhury and his fellow defectors from the Pakistani Navy. So when the Research & Analysis Wing leader, R.N Kao, learned of this band’s imminent arrival, he knew they could prove vital in the Mukti Bahini’s efforts. Which is why he personally grilled them on their loyalties. And finally, having heard the extent of their troubles in escaping the submarine, he was satisfied.

SANDEEP SAKET: They were granted political asylum and asked to take part in the meticulously planned Naval operation in the Research & Analysis Wing.

NARRATOR: The fledgling Naval unit of the Mukti Bahini was a crucial aspect of their guerilla effort. Remember, the Research & Analysis Wing had already succeeded in cutting off Pakistan’s air mobility.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: But Pakistan was still using the waterways to now ferry men and material into Bangladesh. So now it was up to India to also figure out a way to cut off water access for West Pakistan to Bangladesh. And that is why they decided to come up with a new strategy. 

NARRATOR: When the Bengali submariners arrived in New Delhi - it was to this mission that they were assigned.

SANDEEP SAKET: Actually, after the arrival of Bangladeshi commandos in India, a long period of planning went into this mission, and R&AW through Mukti Bahini collected detailed data about the patterns of the tides of the river and also about the weather conditions. A couple of dates were selected when the tides would not be very high and the rains would be moderate as the heavy rains would actually jeopardize the operation. R&AW also collected information about Naval infrastructure and deployment of the target boats. 

NARRATOR: The effort to cripple Pakistan’s Naval access to Bangladesh was dubbed Operation Jackpot.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: The mission of the operation was to launch simultaneous attacks in four ports: Chittagong, Mangla Jumper, and Narayanganj. The aim was to sink as many ships as possible in a short span. This would help create an impression that the waterways in Bangladesh were not safe for ships anymore. And just like how they banned air space travel, India would end up cutting off water access as well.

NARRATOR: Operation Jackpot presented immense logistical difficulties. Four simultaneous targeted attacks, deep behind enemy lines. One false move and the entire thing would be thwarted. Suffice it to say, it would require unbelievable focus from Chowdhury and his men.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: So there were these eight commandos who had reached India from P.N.S Mangro. They were then put together with a team that consisted of around 160 people. And they underwent specialized training for up to 18 hours a day. So they had a rigorous module that included night swimming, and underwater swimming. They had to understand how to do underwater demolitions, especially at night and the main thing was training on how to use limpet mines.

NARRATOR: Ah yes, a limpet mine - named for the aquatic snail that tends to cling, for dear life, to the underside of ships. I suspect you can guess this canny device’s purpose.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: Limpet mines are magnetic naval mines that are used to damage ships below the waterline. They're hard to handle and swimmers have to carry them on their chest. So not only did they get training in how to use limpet mines but also how to survive underwater and how to carry these heavy objects.

NARRATOR: In short, the 160 naval commandos underwent a grueling regime of training in preparation for this most brazen of operations. When they emerged at the other end of it, they were an elite force.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: After training for around three to four months, finally the commandos set off on July 27, 1971. They didn't know the exact date of the mission. They knew that it could be anywhere between July into August. 

NARRATOR: In the way of supplies, they needed to keep everything as streamlined as possible. Enough food rations for survival and the essential tools for their attack: Fins, knives, STEN guns, limpet mines, and, crucially, transistor radios.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: They were told to guard two things more than even their lives. One was the limpet mines, of course. And the other thing was this radio. And the radio ended up playing a very important part in Operation Jackpot. The success of the operation depended on all four commando units simultaneously attacking the different boats. But how would these commandos know the date and time for the attack - because they were all in separate places, not in contact with each other? So it was decided that they would receive the signal to attack via radio. 

NARRATOR: Each day, at a predetermined time, the four commando units would tune into the West Bengal branch of All India Radio, listening out for a very specific message.

​​ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: There would be two Bengali songs played for them. One was a song indicating that they needed to get ready. That means they needed to reach the port for the attack. And the second was known as the ‘action song’, which was that was the time to attack. So the commando leaders carried the radios and guarded them with their life. 

NARRATOR: And those radios played another essential role in Operation Jackpot. Over the course of a treacherous journey - they offered vital morale.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: While waiting for these songs to be played, a channel that they listened to quite regularly was the Swadhin Betar Bangla.

NARRATOR: It was this radio station that Rahman had used, as Operation Searchlight closed in on him, to declare Bangladesh a free nation. In the genocide that followed, the Swadhin Betar Bangla was shut down - but some of the station’s personnel managed to escape to India.

SANDEEP SAKET: They sought asylum in Calcutta, and after receiving a 50-kilowatt transmitter from the Indian government, the artist managed to revive the Swadhin Betar Bangla. During Operation Jackpot, the channel kept the men motivated as they waited for the command. Swadhin Betar Bangla played songs and a citation from the Holy Quran. They also held passionate discussions about the Bangladeshi freedom struggle and they broadcast pre-recorded radio speeches of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

NARRATOR: Those speeches played a powerful part in keeping the commando units focused on the mission at hand, even under the most trying of circumstances.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: They have to reach their destination port via the Sundarbans Delta, so they have to go into Bangladesh, traversing India and Sundarbans Deltas and this one there. But Delta is a very marshy and tricky landscape to traverse. They have to make sure that they're traveling only at night. They had to lay low during the day. 

NARRATOR: And it was not just Pakistani military forces that they had to worry about.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: The Sundarbans is also heavily infested with crocodiles and tigers so they had to ward off animals as well. In a way, these commandos had to save themselves from both men and animals. In fact, they also ended up killing a tiger in Sundarbans. 

NARRATOR: In the end, the commando units would have to navigate this hostile territory for nearly two weeks before they heard what they’d been waiting for on All India Radio.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: The first song was the Signal Song, which in Bengali goes Amar Putul Aajke Pratham Arati Mukherjee, which means ‘A doll will go to her in-law’s house for the first time today.’ So this meant that they had to proceed to their target and get ready for the attack. 

NARRATOR: Chowdhury’s unit proceed, as planned, to Chittagong Port but on their way - a hitch in the plan.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: Just before they're going to attack, they see a Pakistani commander in the bushes relieving himself. And they're very close to getting caught. If he turns, they would be caught. But they cannot attack him. They cannot risk anything since they've come this far. And it's just a matter of a few hours for their mission.

NARRATOR: Think of the journey Chowdhury has taken. From a Pakistani submarine docked in Toulon, across the European continent, to India. Through four months of the most intense training, then weeks in the Bengali wilderness warding off tigers and crocodiles. All would be for nothing if this patrolman so much as glances in the wrong direction.

SANDEEP SAKET: Chowdhury at this time was very sure that if they were caught, none of them would speak. But actually, the material that they carried with them, especially the limpet mine, would be telling of their plan. And if they're caught, then Pakistan would immediately get to know about their plans of exploding ships in the port. And that would mean that the entire Pakistani authorities would put all the ports on high alert. And that would mean not only Chowdhury's plan getting exposed and going kaput, but also all the parallel plans, which are to happen at that time, would also not happen. And also any such plan would be impossible to mount.

NARRATOR: But the luck of Bangabandhu is with Chowdhury and his men. The patrolman returns to his jeep, oblivious, and drives away. The unit proceeds toward the Chittagong Port and awaits a second signal from the transistor radio.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: The second song was Ami Tomay Jato Shuniyechhilem Gaan which means ‘I ask no reward for the songs I sing to you.’ This song was the action song. It meant that that was the night of the attack.

NARRATOR: Much behind-the-scenes planning had determined the best possible opportunity for the success of the mission. 

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: The date was chosen after a lot of consultations. They had to make sure that it was raining, but not too heavy so that it doesn't affect visibility. They had to make sure that the tide conditions were right. And then the date chosen was August 16; the time was 2 am. The commandos get ready to attack quickly and silently. They reached the Chittagong Port. 

NARRATOR: Under the cover of darkness, the men slip into the bracing Karnaphuli River.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: There was a strong wind and light drizzle on that day the commandos had to swim against the strong currents of Karnaphuli River and they reached the target ships. They were swimming six to seven feet underwater. Then they had to scrape the dirt off the vessels with a knife and attach the limpet mines on them, on every Pakistani Army ship that they could find.

NARRATOR: Once they have attached the mines, the commandos set up rudimentary timers. All the while, their commander’s final words to them are ringing in their ears.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: So just before they get into the water, Chowdhury tells his men again, “Once the timers are attached. Turn back and run like hell. Don't look back.” 

NARRATOR: With the last of the limpet mines attached to the Pakistani ships, the commandos make their break for the shore.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: They start swimming as fast as they can. And then there's a deafening sound as the mines are detonated. Some of the commandos, later on, described it as an orange rain.

NARRATOR: Behind them, the Chittagong Port is lit up like the 4th of July. Pure, brilliant, carnage. A scene all the more powerful for its simultaneous occurrence at four separate ports across the nation. Each mission had gone off without a hitch.

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: So at the Chittagong Port itself, 11 ships were destroyed, and on that night across four ports, 45 ships were destroyed, and around 30,000 tonnes of arms and ammunition and other military supplies for the Pakistani army were destroyed. 

NARRATOR: So much destruction - all without a single casualty - on either side. No wonder Operation Jackpot has earned its place in the history books.

SANDEEP SAKET: I think that it was a total and absolute success because just some months back they had managed to ban Pakistani flights over India. And just now with this, with the success of Operation Jackpot, they had managed to put the four working ports of East Pakistan or Bangladesh out of commission, which was very successful in actually denying Pakistan access to this land. And this eventually would help India's cause when the war was overtly fought. 

NARRATOR: Indeed, when India finally found grounds to enter the conflict on an overt basis - the West Pakistani forces had already been critically weakened. The Indo-Pakistani war began in earnest on December 3, 1971, and lasted just 13 days. It ended with the absolute surrender of Pakistan and the full liberation of Bangladesh. Rahman, or Bangabandhu, was rescued from his prison in West Pakistan during the chaos and survived to lead the nation that he had dreamed of into its future. And as for Chowdhury and his brave men?

ANUSHA NANDAKUMAR: So after the success of Operation Jackpot, Chowdhury and his men continued to participate in many covert operations in Bangladesh's freedom struggle and returned home once the war was over and Bangladesh was a free nation. He's widely regarded as one of the heroes of the Bangladeshi liberation war.

NARRATOR: And rightly so. Begun deep below the seas of a French port town, and ended thousands of miles away, in a river beneath orange rain - the odyssey of Commodore Abdul Wahed Chowdhury was over. I’m Daisy Ridley. Next time, we'll meet the Swiss student who became part of Europe's most notorious terrorist gang and a CIA spy.