A man acquitted in a terrorist bombing that killed 329 people aboard an Air India flight in 1985 was slain on Thursday in a possible targeted shooting near Vancouver, Canadian authorities said.
Officials said the victim was Ripudaman Singh Malik, who with co-defendant Ajaib Singh Bagri was found not guilty in March 2005 of murder and conspiracy in a pair of Air India bombings that killed 331 people on June 23, 1985. It had been the deadliest airborne terrorism prior to the September 11 attacks in the United States.
Police had not initially released the dead man's identity, but confirmed it after Malik's son, Jaspreet Malik, reported his father's slaying in a statement on social media.
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"The media will always refer to him as someone charged with the Air India bombing," the son wrote on Facebook. "The media and RCMP never seemed to accept the court's decision and I pray today's tragedy is not related."
A witness, who works in a car wash in Surrey, said he heard shots Thursday morning and ran outside to find Malik unconscious in his car. Malik, who founded the Khalsa Credit Union, would come to his office in Surrey every morning.
What had happened in 1985?
In Malik's trial, British Columbia Supreme Court heard that a suitcase bomb was loaded onto a plane at Vancouver's airport on June 23, 1985 and then transferred in Toronto to Air India Flight 182 Kanishka. The aircraft crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ireland, killing 329 passengers and crew.
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About an hour later, a bomb destined for another Air India plane exploded prematurely at Tokyo's Narita Airport, where two baggage handlers died.
The incident came at the peak of the insurgency in Punjab and was traced to Babbar Khalsa modules in Canada. The attack took place during a crackdown on Sikhs fighting for an independent homeland, and those behind it were reportedly seeking revenge for the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar by Indian troops, reports AFP.
Malik was acquitted in 2005 and visited India in December 2019 after his name was removed from the black list.
Inderjit Singh Reyat, the only man convicted in the bombings, testified for the prosecution at Malik and Bagri's trial and was later convicted of perjury.
Canadian and Indian agencies concluded that the two bombings were related and had been planned and executed by Sikh separatists based in Canada following Operation Blue Star of 1984.
Shooting of Malik
In a statement, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said, "We are aware of Mr. Malik's background, though at this time we are still working to determine the motive. We can confirm that the shooting appears to be targeted and there is not believed to be any further risk to the public."
Sgt. Timothy Pierotti said that because the shooting took place in a residential area, police were confident witnesses would be able to help solve the crime.
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Police said shortly after the attack that a vehicle believed to be used in the shooting was found engulfed in a fire a few blocks away.
Deepak Khandelwal of Oakville, Ontario, said the shooting "just brings back all the horrible memories we'd had to go through for the last 37 years.'
He was 17 when his sisters, 21-year-old Chandra and 19-year-old Manju, were killed on Flight 182. "It's like a nightmare that never stops giving," he said.
Shiromani Akali Dal Delhi president and former chief of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) Paramjit Singh Sarna said in a statement: “I am deeply saddened at the death of Sardar Ripudaman Singh Malik in Canada. The loss is irreparable. Sardar Malik ran a number of Khalsa schools and was at the forefront of humanitarian efforts in Canada. My sincere condolences to his family. We hope Canadian authorities will launch a thorough investigation into his assassination and bring culprits to book.”
(with inputs from AP)
