Toronto: Ripudaman Singh Malik, the 75-year-old Sikh man acquitted in the 1985 Air India Kanishka bombing case, was shot dead in Surrey, British Columbia. The Canadian police said they are still working to determine the motive behind the targeted killing of Ripudaman. Ripudaman and co-accused Ajaib Singh Bagri were acquitted in 2005 of mass murder and conspiracy charges related to the two bombings in 1985 that killed 331 people.
The report, quoting an eye witness said, he “heard three shots and pulled Malik from his red Tesla bleeding from a neck wound”. Surrey Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said a "man shot at that location at around 9:30 am succumbed to his injuries at the scene. The police initially did not release the identity of the victim. But it confirmed it after Malik's son, Jaspreet Malik, posted a statement on social media about his father's shooting.
"The media will always refer to him as someone charged with the Air India bombing,” Malik's son wrote on Facebook, according to ABC News. "The media and RCMP never seemed to accept the court's decision and I pray today's tragedy is not related." In a statement, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said: "We are aware of 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 any further risk to the public." The 1985 Air India bombing is among the worst terrorist attacks in Canadian history and in the history of the airline.
According to report in recent years, he had served as chairman with Khalsa School and managed two of the private schools' campuses in Surrey and Vancouver. He was also president of the Vancouver-based Khalsa Credit Union (KCU), which has more than 16,000 members.
