The American newspaper Washington Post says that India’s intelligence agency RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) had allegedly run a systematic assassination program to kill half a dozen people in Pakistan since 2021. RAW had allegedly run a campaign to kill or plot to kill Khalistani separatists in the US and Canada.
The newspaper quoted unidentified officials as saying that the killings in Pakistan were not carried out by Indian nationals but by gangs of petty criminals in Pakistan or contract killers in Afghanistan. RAW allegedly carried out this operation by using businessmen living in Dubai as intermediaries.
The operation also had separate teams for surveillance, assassinations, and arranging payments through hawala or informal international financial networks. That is, RAW also ran a hawala racket to carry out this operation. It is very strange that India has strict laws against hawala or money laundering and the government takes action against money laundering every day. But on the other hand, the Washington Post report is saying that the Indian government’s intelligence agency itself was running the hawala racket, whose links extended from Dubai to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
According to the newspaper, one such alleged murder of Zahoor Mistry took place in 2022. Zahoor is said to have killed an Indian passenger while hijacking an Indian Airlines flight in 1999. Anonymous Pakistani officials told the Washington Post that a woman calling herself Tanaz Ansari was involved in the murder of Zahoor Mistry.
Tanaz Ansari allegedly hired two Pakistanis to track down Zahoor Mistry, two Afghan nationals to shoot him, and three others from Southeast Asia, Africa, and West Asia to send at least $5,500, or about Rs. 4.7 lakh, to those involved in the murder. The Washington Post reported, citing unnamed Pakistani officials, that the woman is believed to be an Indian agent and was also allegedly involved in the killing of Syed Khalid Raza, a militant leader active in Kashmir in the 1990s.
In October 2023, Shahid Latif, the alleged mastermind of the 2016 Pathankot attack, was shot dead in the Pakistani district of Sialkot. Reports at the time said that the killing was carried out by unknown assailants. Mohammad Umair Latif was shot dead by a group of people led by a laborer. Umair was later arrested and confessed that he was sent from Dubai to personally kill Latif after previous such attempts failed.
The newspaper reported that Umair had allegedly revealed a safe house or hideout in Dubai. Pakistani agents had taken refuge in this safe house after Shahid Latif was killed. The house was in the names of two tenants, Ashok Kumar Anand Salian and Yogesh Kumar.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs declined to respond to The Washington Post on these allegations. In the past, Indian officials have neither confirmed nor denied their role in specific killings, but have said that such killings were not part of official policy. RAW’s previous operation The latest allegations in the Washington Post report came eight months after the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) was accused of plotting the murder of Gurpatwant Singh Pannu in the US and of being involved in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. Pannu and Nijjar are Khalistani separatist leaders.
The Washington Post had claimed on 29 April 2024 that a RAW officer named Vikram Yadav was involved in both the plots.
In October, Vikram Yadav was charged by the US Department of Justice with murder-for-hire and money laundering in connection with the alleged plot to kill Pannu. The plot was foiled by US intelligence agents even before Pannu, who holds dual US and Canadian citizenship, was killed, after which diplomatic relations between India and Canada became tense after Nijjar’s murder. In September 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Nijjar was murdered by Indian government agents in Surrey near Vancouver. The investigation was handed over to the Canadian intelligence agency. The one who found the allegations correct was a pro-Khalistan separatist leader. Khalistan is demanding a separate homeland for Sikhs in India. India had described Nijjar as the head of the Khalistan Tiger Force. It has been declared a militant organization in India. However, India had rejected Canada’s allegations as “absurd and motivated” and said that it was an attempt by Canada to divert attention from the facts. Because Canada itself was sheltering people who were a threat to India’s sovereignty.
Pakistan’s sleepless nights, protest to India
Pakistan has alleged that Indian intelligence agencies are behind the killings of militants inside its country. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday expressed concern over India’s intelligence agency RAW. In Islamabad, Pakistan’s Mumtaz Zehra Baloch alleged that India’s campaign of killings and kidnappings has spread beyond Pakistan.
Pakistan’s latest statement comes after a report in the American newspaper Washington Post claimed that India’s intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing had carried out a covert operation that killed several militants in Pakistan. The report also said that someone else
These operations, carried out by entering the country, have the support of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The most shocking killing was that of Sarfaraz Tamba, who was shot dead by motorcycle-borne gunmen inside the city of Lahore in April 2023. Sarfaraz was involved in the murder of an Indian intelligence officer in 2011. Pakistani officials have accused India of involvement in the killing.
Pakistani officials say that Tamba’s killing was part of a series of widespread killings that escalated in 2021. The report claims that RAW had set up a network in Dubai for this purpose. It claims, citing Pakistani and Western officials, that RAW agents from Dubai contact local criminals or Afghan fighters in Pakistan and are given information about targets.
A report published in the Daily Tribune of Pakistan claims that in 2012, India made a failed attempt to kill Syed Salahuddin, a Kashmiri militant living in Pakistan. A Pakistani official said that India may have been involved in the 2013 shooting outside a bakery in Islamabad that killed Naseeruddin Haqqani, a suspect in the bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul.
