Ripudaman Singh Malik, accused in 1985 Air India bombing case, shot dead in Canada
Ripudaman Singh Malik, one of the accused in the 1985 Air Indian bombing case, was shot dead in Surrey in Canada’s British Columbia on Thursday morning, local media reported.
Confirming the news, Jaspal Singh, Brother-in-Law of Malik told ANI, “We are uncertain about who killed Ripudaman. His younger sister is on her way to Canada.”
According to witnesses quoted by CBC News, three shorts were heard and Malik was hit in the neck. Local media reports also quoted police confirming that shots were fired at around 9:30 am local time and that a man succumbed to injuries at the scene. They said it appeared to be a targeted killing.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said they could not name the victim but told they had found a suspect vehicle fully engulfed in fire. Authorities were still looking for the suspects and a second vehicle that may have been used as getaway vehicle, the RCMP added.
In February this year, Malik had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, thanking him for the steps taken for the welfare of the Sikh community. His letter listed the the various pro-Sikh initiatives taken by the BJP government, including reopening of the 1984 riots cases.
Malik, along with Inderjeet Singh Reyat and Ajaib Singh Bagri, was accused of playing a crucial role in the bombing of Air India Flight 182 Kanishka that was on its way from Delhi to Montreal. He was acquitted by a Canadian court in 2005.
A bomb exploded on Air India Flight 182 “Kanishka” from Canada off the coast of Ireland on June 23, 1985, killing 329 passengers and crew. This included over 280 Canadian citizens including 29 entire families and 86 children under the age of 12.
Ripudaman Malik was allegedly associated with Babbar Khalsa, a terrorist outfit responsible for many terrorist incidents in Punjab and was also a close associate of Talwinder Singh Parmar, the alleged mastermind of the Air India bombing.
Babbar Khalsa, an international terrorist organisation and banned by several countries including the US, Canada and India.Malik and his co-accused, Ajaib Singh Bagri, were acquitted in 2005 of mass murder and conspiracy charges.
Notably, Malik spent four years in prison before his acquittal and later asked for USD 9.2 million as legal fees, however, a British Columbia judge rejected his claims for compensation. The terrorist bombing of the AI Flight 182 remains the worst terrorist attack on Canada to date. The majority of the victims were Canadians, and the bombing was the result of a conspiracy conceived, planned and executed in Canada.