ISI Agent Rahat Rao Attacked, Set on Fire by Unknown People in Canada, Sources Tell News18

An agent of Pakistan’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was attacked by unknown people 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, they added.

According to the sources, a person came to Rahat’s office for some alleged money exchange work, set him on fire, and ran away. Rao belongs to the Canadian-Pakistani community

Earlier CNN-News18 had reported that Rahat Rao was questioned in connection with the 2023 murder of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia.

Ties between India and Canada came under severe strain following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations in September last year of the “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar.

After Nijjar’s killing, RCMP teams visited Rahat Rao’s office in Surrey. He was questioned for almost two hours by the police, including about Nijjar. Sources said he was forced to delete every post from his social media pages in front of the RCMP.

CNN-News18 had earlier also reported that the hand of Pakistan’s spy agency ISI is suspected to be behind Nijjar’s killing.

Sources had said that Rahat Rao and Tariq Kiyani are ISI plants in Canada, doing the most work for the agency. “They are even handling the terrorists who come from India and are on the wanted list,” they said.

Sources said Nijjar may have been killed for business reasons and that Rao and Kiyani may have wanted to control the drug business. They added that the trio of Rao, Kiyani and Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun possibly laid the trap to control the drug and immigration business which is the main source of income for them.