Highlights
- Ripudaman Singh Malik was shot dead in Surrey, British Colombia.
- He was one of the two men acquitted in the 1985 Air India terrorist bombings.
- Jaspreet Malik confirmed the death of his father, Ripudaman Singh Malik.
Ripudaman Singh Malik shot dead: One of the two men acquitted in the Air India terrorist bombings of 1985, Ripudaman Singh Malik, was shot dead in Surrey, British Colombia, reported local media. Jaspreet Malik confirmed the death of his father, Ripudaman Singh Malik, in a statement on social media Thursday.
“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.”
Malik and his co-accused, Ajaib Singh Bagri, were 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.
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How did Malik die?
A witness who works a car wash in Surrey said he heard shots Thursday morning and ran outside to find Ripudaman Singh Malik unconscious in his car. Police said shortly after the attack that a vehicle believed to be used in the shooting was found engulfed in fire a few blocks away.
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.
Malik's involvement in 1985 Air India bombings
A suitcase bomb was loaded onto a plane at Vancouver’s airport and then transferred in Toronto to Air India Flight 182. The aircraft crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ireland, killing 329 passengers and crew. About an hour later, a bomb destined for another Air India plane exploded prematurely at Tokyo’s Narita Airport, where two baggage handlers died.
Inderjit Singh Reyat, the only man convicted in the bombings, testified for the prosecution at Ripudaman Singh Malik and Bagri’s trial and was later convicted of perjury.
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.”
