Who is Ripudaman Singh Malik? 1985 Air India bombing acquitted suspect killed in Canada

Ripudaman Singh Malik, one of suspects in 1985 Air India bombing who was acquitted in 2005, was shot de by unkwns on Thursday morning (local time) in Surrey in Cana's British Columbia province.

According to media reports, Ripudaman Singh Malik who came to Cana in 1972 was shot de on Thursday morning (local time) by unkwn people who came in car and later burned it down. A burning car was discovered a few blocks from scene of shooting, which is a common indicator of a gang hit, but re have been confirmed reports as of yet.

Who was Ripudaman Singh Malik?

Malik migrated to Cana in 1972 and started his life in rth American country as a cab driver. He n rose to position of president of Vancouver's Khalsa Credit Union (KCU), which has 16,000 members and over $110 million in assets. He also served as president of Satnam Education Society in Cana's British Columbia and oversaw operation of Khalsa schools that included teaching Punjabi and Sikh history in dition to Canian curriculum.

1985 Air India bombing

He was also one of people accused of being a key player in bombing of 1985 Air India Flight 182 "Kanishka". On June 23, 1985, a bomb on Air India Flight 182 "Kanishka" from Cana off coast of Ireland exploded, killing 329 people including crew. More than 280 Canian citizens, including 29 entire families and 86 kids under 12, were killed

Malik and his co-accused, Ajaib Singh Bagri, who were accused of 1985 Air India bombing were acquitted in 2005 of mass murder and conspiracy charges. tably, Malik spent four years in prison before his acquittal and later asked for $ 9.2 million as legal fees, however, a British Columbia judge rejected his claims for compensation, ANI reported.

Links with Babbar Khalsa & recent visits to India

In dition to this, Malik was allegedly connected to terrorist group Babbar Khalsa, which was behind a number of attacks in Punjab. Talwinder Singh Parmar, putative planner of Air India bombing, was also a close associate of Ripudaman Malik.

It is pertinent to mention that Malik was on Indian black list for several years. However, he was granted a single entry visa in 2020 and multiple visas recently in 2022 and me a pilgrim trip recently to Andhra Presh, Delhi, Punjab and Maharashtra in month of May.

Letter to PM Modi

tably, Malik h written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanking him for actions taken for welfare of Sikhs before Punjab Assembly elections in February of this year. In his letter, he ted BJP government's numerous pro-Sikh actions, like reopening of 1984 riots cases.