MUMBAI: It was shortly after midnight on 2 May 2011 when the search for the world?s most hunted felon finally came to an end.

Now on 28 April at 8 pm infotainment broadcaster Discovery Channel will air the special ?Osama Bin Laden: The Finish?. This is the inside story of one of the biggest and most arduous manhunts in history.

It is based on author Mark Bowden?s research book ?The Finish: The Killing of Osama Bin Laden?- that features an exclusive interview with US President Barack Obama, rare access to the White House and first-hand reporting. The special provides an account of the step-by-step developments that led to finally tracking down the world?s most wanted man.

After masterminding the terrorist attacks against the US on 11 September 2001, Osama bin Laden vanished. Over the course of the next decade, America discovered that its war with al-Qaeda - a scattered group of individuals who were almost impossible to track - required a more innovative approach. The special begins by looking at the tragic 2009 suicide bombing by a Jordanian triple agent which killed 10 people, including Jennifer Matthews, a mother of three and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operative leading the hunt for Osama. Through access to military and agency sources, the special takes viewers on the ground where the action unfolded and inside the rooms where high-level decisions were made.

The special has been filmed on location in Jordan, Afghanistan and Pakistan and gives viewers a look at the top-secret strategies employed to complete the mission and President Obama?s campaign promise - to get Osama Bin Laden. The special also sheds light on how intelligence agencies utilise special operations to gather information to find al-Qaeda and Taliban targets.

MUMBAI: Discovery will air a special showing the true story that inspired the Oscar winning film ?Argo?.

The special ?Argo: Inside Story? airs on 31 March at 8 pm.

The Oscar winning film had chronicled the Central Intelligent Agency?s (CIA) attempt to rescue six Americans during the 1978 Iran hostage crisis. The film, which won the Best Picture Award, is based on real-life events.

Discovery?s special gains access to the top players involved in the crisis to hear their side of the story, including the CIA?s "chief of disguise", Tony Mendez, who was called upon to devise the rescue plan. The one-hour special narrated by actor Bray Poor, gives an inside look at the dramatic escape and how Mendez forged identity documents and elaborate disguises to get past the security agents at the Tehran airport.

The CIA had to come up with a convincing reason for the six people being in Tehran in the first place, and devise a way for them to leave without arousing suspicion. The operation became an elaborate scheme involving fake identification cards, a phantom movie production and unprecedented cooperation between the United States and Canada.

Mendez, who had limited access to materials once inside Iran, recalls how he forged official documents in the office of the Canadian Ambassador. "One of the stamp pads had dried out and I had to mix the right ink color," Mendez recalls in the special. "So I went over to the Canadian Ambassador?s liquor cabinet and got a bottle of Scotch and poured some on [the pad]."

The special reveals how the Americans prepared for their departure, the true story about the agency?s involvement and their reasons for keeping it secret for nearly two decades.