Two Men Charged for Gunning Down Ripudaman Singh Malik, Who Was Acquitted in Air India Bombing Case

In 2005, a Canadian court acquitted Ripudaman Singh Malik of mass murder and conspiracy charges related to the mid-air bombing of an Air India plane en route to London from Montreal in 1985. The attack, which left 331 people dead, most of them Indian-origin immigrants to Canada, was claimed by Sikh terrorist group Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have charged two people with “first-degree murder” for killing Ripudaman Singh Malik, a septuagenarian shot dead outside his residence in Surrey, British Colombia (BC) on July 14.

According to a Wednesday press release from the RCMP’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT), the two accused have been identified as 21-year-old Tanner Fox and 23-year-old Jose Lopez.

The investigators said that both the suspects were arrested in their respective homes in Abbotsford and New Westminster “without an incident.”

Police have said that the two suspects were tracked down on the basis of leads available at the crime scene after cops were called in on the morning of July 14, when the incident took place.

The statement recalled that Singh was suffering from gunshot wounds when the police arrived and couldn’t be saved despite “life-saving interventions.”

“A white Honda CR-V was captured on CCTV hours before the shooting,” the statement noted, adding that the vehicle was then “found in flames” in a nearby neighborhood.

The police said that they have been working with the forensic team and the coroner’s offices to “acquire evidence.”

“This case was complex with its own unique challenges,” said Superintendent Mandeep Mooker.

“Our IHIT investigators and partners prevailed because of the dedication and expertise that each investigator brings as part of the integration and partnership,” Mooker added.

Singh’s son Jaspreet Malik has, however, questioned the motive of the alleged killers and said that he was hearing the names of the suspects for the first time, as per the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

"My father was 75 years old. He was not a young person. He was healthy. He was doing well. But I mean, it doesn't make sense,” Malik told the state broadcaster.

He said that his family was looking for answers to their questions.

"What I infer from the police telling me there is an ongoing investigation is that there's something more there,'' he remarked.

He also expressed confidence that there was no connection between his father’s death and the Air India bombing incident in 1985, for which Singh was acquitted in 2005.