A man identified as an agent of Pakistan’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was reportedly set on fire by a mob in Canada. Sources told CNN-News18 on Saturday the man’s name is Rahat Rao and he has a forex business in the Surrey Central area. Rao reportedly belongs to the Canadian-Pakistani community. According to the report, the incident happened after a person visited Rahat’s office for some “money exchange work.” The man then set Rao on fire and ran away.
In September 2023, Rao was questioned in Canada’s Surrey in connection with the alleged murder of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. “RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] did not disclose the reason for their visit publicly, but it was possibly related to his knowledge about the killing of Nijjar,” a source told News18. Nijjar, who was designated a terrorist by India’s National Investigation Agency in 2020, was shot and killed outside a Gurdwara in Surrey in June last year.
The diplomatic relationship between India and Canada took a hit after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s alleged “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistan extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. New Delhi rejected Trudeau’s charges as “absurd”. India has been maintaining that the main issue between the two countries is that of Canada giving space to pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil with impunity. India has been consistently pressing Canada to take action against anti-India elements operating from its soil. In a recent statement, Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswa said India expects Canada to take action against anti-India elements who have repeatedly threatened Indian leaders, institutions, airlines, and diplomats by violence.
Meanwhile, the vandalism at the BAPS temple was criticised by other local elected representatives too. The Consulate General of India in Vancouver had said in a post on X on July 24: “We condemn the defacing of BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in #Edmonton with anti-India graffiti. We have requested the Canadian authorities to investigate the incident and take prompt action against the perpetrators.”
