He went via Russia disguised as Orlando Mazzotta and landed in Berlin on April 2. SOE remained in the dark about Bose's movements until he left Berlin for Tokyo saving his life.

"There was a striking absence of consideration of alternative methods. If British agents could get close enough to kill him, they surely could have attempted to capture him. Also, it's significant that it was not an initiative dreamt up by an over-enthusiastic local operative but a measured step determined at a high level in London", said O'Halpin. After the great escape, Bose secretly met Adolf Hitler in Berlin to seek his help to drive out the British. When the Nazi leader turned down the request, he approached the Japanese.

Travelling in submarines, he reached Singapore where with Japanese help he raised the Indian National Army (INA) comprising Indian soldiers of the British army who had been captured by the Japanese in southeast Asia during the Second World War. The INA marched to India's northeast, where after initial success it was crushed by the British army.

Bose was reportedly killed on August 18, 1945, aboard a Japanese bomber, which crashed seconds after takeoff from a military air base in Taipei en route to Moscow.