Canada: Prime Accused In 1985 Air India Bomb Blast Case Shot Dead

NEW DELHI: Prime Accused in the 1985 Air India bombing case, Ripudaman Singh Malik was shot dead on Thursday morning, in Canada's British Columbia, Surrey.

As per CBC News, it said that accounts were reported about 3 shots that were heard and Malik was hit on his neck.

As per reports, the local police have confirmed that the shots were fired at 9:30 AM and a man was injured on the spot. The police suspected that it may be a targeted shoot.

Malik, Inderjeet Singh Reyat and Ajaib Singh Bagri were the main accused persons related to the blast in Air India flight 182, Emperor Kanishka, which is a Boeing 747 aircraft, en route from Montreal to Delhi on June 23 of 1985 that killed 329 passengers on board.

Malik and Bagri who were charged with 329 counts of first-degree murder cases were later on acquitted after the prosecution witness, Reyat said that he could not recall the details of the plot and the names that were involved.

Earlier this year, just before the Punjab elections were about to take place in February, Malik thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi by stating in his letter about the steps taken by the BJP government for the welfare of the Sikhs. He listed various initiatives of the BJP that included the 1984 riots case's reopening and even warned against the orchestrated attempt to defame the prime minister.

The Indian World Forum president, Puneet Singh Chandhok said- "Ripudaman had made a pilgrimage trip recently to Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab and Maharashtra in the month of May after being granted multiple visas".

"I am deeply saddened at the death of Sardar Ripudaman Singh Malik in Canada. The loss is irreparable. Sardar Malik ran a number of Khalsa schools and was at the forefront of humanitarian efforts in Canada. My sincere condolences to his family. We hope Canadian authorities will launch a thorough investigation into his assassination and bring culprits to book.", mentions Shiromani Akali Dal's Delhi president and the former chief of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, Paramjit Singh Sarna.

The Canadian court acquitted Malik, for a case relating to the Air India and the court acquitted him in 2005. Malik was the founder of Khalsa Credit Union.

Reyat was earlier convicted and awarded a 10-year sentence for two cases of manslaughter related to a separate blast that took place in the Narita airport in Tokyo, where two Japanese nationals were killed. He was credited with a 5-year term for one count of manslaughter in the Kanishka blast.

As per the investigators, the bomb was checked by cargo in a suitcase during the stopover in Vancouver and exploded in the Atlantic Ocean in Irish airspace at an altitude of 31,000 feet.

That very day another bomb exploded in the Narita airport killing two baggage handlers. It had been reported that the bomb was kept inside a bag that was carried in Canadian Pacific Airlines in Vancouver and was planned to be kept on the Air India flight to Bangkok later on.

Both the Canadian and Indian agencies concluded that the two cases of bomb blasts were interlinked and were planned and carried out by the Sikh separatists based in Canada after the Operation Blue Star of 1984.

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