Remembering legendary spymaster RN Kao on his birth anniversary

New Delhi, May 10: RN Kao was one of the India's foremost intelligence officers and first chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW). He was born on May 10, 1918.

Kao was the head of R&AW during the India-Pakistani War of 1971 which resulted in creation of Bangladesh.

RN Kao is said to have played a significant role during the war in which India triumphed. Kao is credited for merging Sikkim into India in 1975 as its 22nd state.

Towards the end of the 1960s, when the problems in East Pakistan began to escalate, Kao held frequent meetings with then prime minister Indira Gandhi and said to have been an integral part of strategy formulation, along with others including then Indian Army chief Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw.

The Bangladesh operation took place in two phases - covert subversion and military intervention. Phase one, as per reports, was coordinated by Kao while phase two by Manekshaw.

Many describe Kao as "the legendary spymaster who completely changed history by phone calls."

Kao started his career by joining the imperial police in 1940. Kao's first assignment as the assistant superintendent of police was to provide VVIP security and he was direct in charge of the security ring of Jawahar Lal Nehru, reported defencelover.in. He was an 1940 batch Indian Imperial Police (currently IPS) from U.P cadre.

RN Kao also founded the National Security Guards as he sensed a need for a special force unit. NSG is now considered one of the best special forces in the world.

Reports suggest that Kao left RAW for the blunder committed by then PM Moraji Desai by allegedly leaking details about RAW agents penetrating into Pakistan which eventually resulted in their death. Saddened by this Kao left RAW and never returned.