Pavan Kumar Rai

Some Lesser Known Facts About Pavan Kumar Rai

• Pavan Kumar Rai is a 1997-batch Punjab cadre IPS officer who was posted to Ottawa as minister (eco, coordination, community affairs) in the Indian High Commission in 2018. He made headlines in 2023 when he was expelled by the Canadian government amid allegations linking the Indian government to the assassination of the Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

• Rai is one of the 50 RR (regular recruits of the 50th batch) of the IPS who started his career after receiving training at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad. ^[3]SVPNPA

• Reportedly, Rai served as the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) in Taran Tarn around 2009-10 and played a crucial role in addressing drug-related issues in Punjab.

• He held various positions in Punjab Police like the SSP in Jalandhar and Amritsar during the late 2000s. During his posting in Punjab, he once made headlines for recovering 10 kg of heroin from the car of an Akali Dal MLA. At that time, there was an Akali Dal government in Punjab and he was the SSP of Tarn Taran. Apart from that, he had arrested the son of Punjab Police officer Shivkumar in the case of a diamond robbery in Jalandhar.

• On 1 July 2010, he began his central deputation as the Joint Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, New Delhi. Simultaneously, he joined the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

• In December 2018, Rai assumed the role of Joint Secretary (Personnel) in the Ministry of External Affairs for a three-year term, replacing Rashmi Ranjan Swain.

• In the same year, he was assigned to the Indian High Commission in Ottawa as a minister (eco, coordination, community affairs).

• On 31 January 2023, the Punjab Government promoted Rai to the position of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP). He is scheduled to retire on 31 October 2030.

• On 18 September 2023, during a speech in the Canadian House of Commons, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of being involved in the assassination of the Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. A Canada-based Khalistani extremist and the leader of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), Nijjar was fatally shot by two unidentified gunmen on 18 June 2023, within the premises of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurudwara in Surrey, Canada. Nijjar was one of India’s most-wanted terrorists and had a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head. Trudeau stated that any foreign government’s role in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil constituted an unacceptable breach of Canada’s sovereignty. Following Trudeau’s accusation, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly officially announced that Canada had expelled a high-ranking Indian diplomat, who was identified as Pavan Kumar Rai. Apparently, Rai was serving as the Canadian station chief of India’s intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) when he was expelled by the Canadian government over an alleged link between the Indian government and the assassination of Nijjar. The Canadian foreign ministry publicly revealed Rai’s identity to the Canadian media, which went against the customary protocol of not disclosing the name of an intelligence agency’s station chief, particularly when dealing with friendly nations. On 19 September 2023, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a statement denying the allegations made by Justin Trudeau. Additionally, the MEA urged the Government of Canada “to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil.” In the statement, the MEA wrote,
  

  Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

  In a Tit-for-Tat move, India also expelled a senior Canadian diplomat and asked them to leave India within five days.