Indian diplomat expelled by Canadian govt is a senior Punjab cadre IPS officer
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in News/ September 19,2023
Today, Canadian government has expelled a senior Indian diplomat alleging an Indian hand in the killing of wanted Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The ‘top Indian diplomat’ expelled by Canada amid allegations linking the Indian government to the assassination of a Khalistani activist has been identified as Pavan Kumar Rai , purportedly the Canadian station chief of India’s intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
The expelled senior Indian diplomat is Pavan Kumar Rai, 53, a 1997-batch Punjab cadre IPS officer was the senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Jalandhar and Amritsar during the late 2000s. He is on central deputation since 2010. He was promoted as an additional director general of police (ADGP) by the Punjab Government on January 31, along with seven other IPS officers.
Rai, the station chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) in Canada, was expelled amid the country’s probe into what it called “credible allegations” of a “potential link” between the Indian government and the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Considered close to former R&AW chief Samant Kumar Goel, who also belongs to Punjab, Rai got a deputation with the agency. In 2018, he was empanelled for holding the post of joint secretary or equivalent at the Centre.
Rai’s name was leaked to the Canadian media by the country’s oreign ministry in a breach of protocol that typically does not identify by name the station chief of spy agencies, particularly among friendly nations.
Indian most wanted Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 46, the head of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib in Surrey, Canada was shot dead in June this year. He was the chief of the separatist organisation Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF).
