The Western countries have expelled station chiefs of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), a premier intelligence agency of India, amid reports of assassination plans of Sikh leaders.
Two high-ranking Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) station chiefs faced expulsion from significant Western countries, while a third station chief encountered refusal of entry.
Indian website ThePrint, disclosed this important development, citing intelligence sources.
This occurrence marks the most severe setback suffered by the Indian secret agency in North America since its establishment in 1968, according to the publication.
The expulsions of these Indian operatives from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom signify these nations’ ire towards India regarding alleged plans to assassinate Sikh Khalistani leaders on Western territory.
It also signals a potential cessation of intelligence collaboration with India, as per the report.
The revelation surfaced just days following the US Justice Department’s accusation against an Indian government official, alleging their involvement in directing an unsuccessful assassination attempt on a Sikh separatist within US borders.
Recently, a senior official within the Biden administration announced the thwarting of a plot aimed at assassinating a Sikh separatist in the US, expressing concerns over potential Indian government involvement and issuing a warning to New Delhi.
“The expulsion of these officers represents a sequence of actions designed to convey dissatisfaction regarding what the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom perceive as breaches of unspoken conventions governing RAW operations in their countries,” stated the report.
According to intelligence sources, the ousted officers held pivotal positions within RAW—specifically, the head of the RAW station in San Francisco and the second-in-command of operations in London.
These individuals hailed from senior and mid-senior levels within the Indian Police Service.
The report refrained from divulging their identities, as both officers continue to serve within the Indian intelligence apparatus.
Furthermore, ThePrint disclosed that the Narendra Modi-led government faced rejection when seeking approval to station an officer as a replacement for RAW’s chief in Washington, DC, who had returned home earlier in the year.
The appointed officer was slated to assume duties before the scheduled retirement of the organization’s former chief, Samant Goel, on June 30.
