Publication date: July 14, 2022 • 13 minutes ago • 4 minutes read • 15 comments Ripudaman Singh Malik (centre) leaves BC Supreme Court in Vancouver, BC with supporters after being found not guilty in the bombing of Air India Flight 182 in 1985, Wednesday March 16, 2005. Malikl will not get back $9.2 million in legal fees. Malik had admitted in a BC Supreme Court case. that it would be difficult for him to get the government to cover his legal bills. Photo by RICHARD LAM /The Canadian Press

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A man acquitted in the 1985 Air India terror case was shot to death outside his Surrey business on Thursday morning.

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Ripudaman Singh Malik, a one-time supporter of the Sikh Khalistan separatist movement, was killed shortly before 9:30 am. in the 8200-block of 128th Street. Multiple police agencies are investigating the death of Ripudaman Singh Malik at 8236 128th Street in Surrey, BC, Thursday morning, July 14, 2022. Malik, a prominent Surrey businessman, was acquitted in 2015 of the Air India bombing that killed hundreds of people in 1985. (Photo by Jason Payne/ PNG) Photo by Jason Payne /PNG In March 2005, Malik and his Babbar Khalsa associate Ajaib Singh Bagri were acquitted by a BC Supreme Court judge of murder and conspiracy charges in Canada’s deadliest terrorist attack. Accused Air India bombers Ajaib Singh Bagri (left) and Ripudaman Singh Malik walk together in the exercise yard at the prison where they are being held November 1, 2004 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Bagri and Malik are accused of killing 331 people in two separate bombings targeting Air India on June 23, 1985. Photo: Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images Air India – then the country’s national airline – was bombed in retaliation for the Indian government’s attack on Amritsar’s Golden Temple a year earlier that left hundreds of Sikh pilgrims dead. A door from the Air India jumbo jet floats off the Irish coast after a bomb exploded that caused the plane to crash in 1985. RCMP are set to charge two men from British Columbia with killing more than 300 people in connection with the disaster, Vancouver Province Reports. (CP/ap IMAGE FILE) CANWEST Malik and Bagri were allegedly part of a plot by a small group of BC militants who planted suitcase bombs on two connecting flights out of Vancouver airport. The fatal bags were marked for Air India flights heading in opposite directions.

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One blew up on Air India Flight 182 off the coast of Ireland on June 23, 1985, killing all 329 on board, most of whom were Canadian citizens. The other exploded at Tokyo’s Narita Airport while in transit. Two baggage handlers were killed. Inderjit Reyat, a former Vancouver Island man, was convicted of manslaughter in both bombings. Following Malik’s acquittal, he resumed his leadership roles at the Khalsa Credit Union and the Satnam Educational Society, which operates several Khalsa Schools. And moved from Vancouver to South Surrey. He went on to run a number of businesses, including Papillion Eastern Imports – the clothing company based in the building where Malik was killed on Thursday. Multiple police agencies are investigating the death of Ripudaman Singh Malik at 8236 128th Street in Surrey, BC, Thursday morning, July 14, 2022. Malik, a prominent Surrey businessman, was acquitted in 2015 of the Air India bombing that killed hundreds of people in 1985. (Photo by Jason Payne/ PNG) Photo by Jason Payne /PNG December 11, 2000 – Ripudaman Singh Malik serves something at Khalsa School in this October 1995 file photo. Photo by Handout /Vancouver Sun Malik also traveled to India for the first time since his acquittal in 2019 after the Indian government granted him a visa. Then, earlier this year, he wrote a letter to controversial Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist, thanking him for the work he had done on behalf of the Sikhs.

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“I am writing to you to express my heartfelt gratitude for the unprecedented positive steps you have taken to address the long-standing demands and grievances of the Sikhs,” Malik wrote, according to the Hindustan Times. He cited the elimination of blacklists like the one he once had and the reopening of criminal cases against suspects in murders during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, as well as declaring that the riots were in fact genocide. Some criticized Malik for offering his support to Modi. The now elderly man had a long list of enemies. Surrey RCMP have not released his name, but Postmedia has confirmed it with multiple sources. Found “suffering from gunshot wounds,” Const. Sarbjit K. Sangha said in a press release. “The man was given first aid by the attending officers until the Emergency Medical Services took over his care. The injured succumbed to his injuries on the spot.”

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He said “it appears to be a targeted shooting. A suspicious vehicle was located in the 12200-block of 82nd Avenue and was fully engulfed in flames.” “The investigation is in its early stages and police are still looking for the suspects and a second vehicle that may have been used as a getaway vehicle.” Multiple police agencies are investigating the death of Ripudaman Singh Malik at 8236 128th Street in Surrey, BC, Thursday morning, July 14, 2022. Malik, a prominent Surrey businessman, was acquitted in 2015 of the Air India bombing that killed hundreds of people in 1985. Pictured is an unidentified woman, wearing an ID card, at the scene of the crime. (Photo by Jason Payne/ PNG) Photo by Jason Payne /PNG Former BC Premier Ujjal Dosanjh first met Malik in the 1970s when the local South Asian community in Vancouver was very small. Malik had opened his clothing store, Papillon, in Gastown. The two men and their wives mingled. Malik was not yet a supporter of the Sikh Khalistan separatist movement, Dosanjh said on Thursday. Dosanjh did the pro bono legal work to help Malik set up his first two charities – the Satnam Trust and the Satnam Education Society.

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“He was a hippie who smoked ganja and had a ponytail and then turned into an extremist warrior. It’s hard to explain,” Dosanjh said. “Something happened to him.” Dosanjh believes it is possible that Malik’s recent support for the once-maligned Indian government is a motive for the killing. “When someone falls from violence, they are sorry,” Dosanjh said. “Sir. Malik seemingly played with violence in his life and it probably haunts him.” March 16, 2005. The judge in the Air India bombing trial found Ripudaman Singh Malik (left) not guilty of the bombing of Air India Flight 182. He is escorted by a court sheriff and an unidentified man to a waiting car. Provincial staff photo by Gerry Kahrmann [PNG Merlin Archive] Photo by Gerry Kahrmann /Province Kash Heed, a longtime Vancouver police officer and former B.C. attorney general, said Malik’s killing had similarities to recent gangland killings where a masked gunman sped away, escaped and a getaway car was later found burning. “This has the earmarks of a paid hit against a person. We know a lot of these hits in the Lower Mainland are related to gang violence,” he said.

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And he said Malik’s recent support for the Indian government may be the motive for the shooting. “This has been such a protracted event, I’m actually surprised it’s survived this many years,” Heed said. “My belief is that it is related to his political defense.” Several people who testified against Malik in Air India’s prosecution declined to comment Thursday. MORE TO COME… More news, less ads: Our in-depth journalism is made possible by the support of our subscribers. For just $3.50 a week, you can get unlimited, ad-lite access to the Vancouver Sun, The Province, the National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Vancouver Sun | The Province.

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