The family of Ripudaman Singh Malik confirmed that the 70-year-old was shot and killed on Thursday morning in front of his clothing import business. Police were called to a neighborhood in Surrey, British Columbia after reports of shots fired. They found a man with a gunshot wound. “The man was given first aid by the attending officers until he was attended to by the emergency services,” Constable Sarbjit Sangha said in a press release. “The injured person succumbed to his injuries on the spot.” Police did not release the victim’s name, but the family confirmed Malik’s identity. In 1985, 329 people died when Air India Flight 182 exploded off the coast of Ireland. It was to stop at Heathrow before going on to Delhi and eventually Mumbai. The terrorist attack is the worst act of mass murder in Canadian history. Among the victims were 280 Canadians and 86 children. A second bomb targeting another plane killed two baggage handlers after it exploded at Tokyo’s Narita Airport before being loaded onto an Air India plane. Crown prosecutors previously argued that the Air India bombing was masterminded by Sikh extremists in British Columbia in retaliation for the Indian army’s raid on the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Sikhism’s holiest shrine, in 1984 that killed hundreds of Sikh pilgrims. An artist’s sketch of Ripudaman Singh Malik. Photo: Jane Wolsak/AP In 2005, Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri were acquitted of charges of mass murder and conspiracy in connection with the Air India bombing. A judge ruled two key witnesses used by the Crown were unreliable. After his acquittal, Malik unsuccessfully sued the government for C$9.2 million, claiming the Crown knew of deficiencies in his case, but still pursued charges under public pressure. Only one person was ever convicted of the bombing. Inderjit Singh Reyat served 30 years for lying during two trials, including Malik’s, and for helping build the bombs in his Vancouver home. He was released from prison in 2016. Canadian authorities believe Talwinder Singh Parmar was the architect of the attack. He was shot and killed by Indian police in 1992. In the years since, Malik, a former supporter of the Sikh Khalistan separatist movement, has held leadership roles at a credit union and a network of Khalsa schools. Police found a burnt-out vehicle 2km from the scene of the shooting, which they believe was one of the getaway vehicles. Police say a second vehicle may be involved. No arrests have been made.
