Pakistani set ablaze in Canada is critical: Police
Ottawa: A Pakistani-Canadian businessman, who was set on fire by an unidentified man in Surrey city of Canada, is in a critical condition, local police reported.
The Kashmir Media Service has reported that Rahat Rao was set on fire by a man in his mid-20s on Friday last, police said. Rahat has been running a forex business in the Surrey Central area.
Quoting sources, the local media reported that the incident happened after a person visited his office for some “money exchange”. The man then set Rahat on fire and ran away.
There are speculations that Rahat was set on fire after a failed robbery bid, the police revealed.
It is reported that Rahat had been participating in protests following the murder of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June last year. Nijjar was reportedly shot dead by Indian government agents for running a campaign for separate homeland for Sikhs – Khalistan – carved out in Punjab.
In September 2023, Rahat was questioned in connection with the murder of Nijjar. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had received some secret information about threat to his life and reportedly asked him to install more CCTV cameras for his security.
