Two plead guilty in murder of 1985 Air India Kanishka bombing suspect Ripudaman Singh Malik in Canada
Amid the ongoing diplomatic row between India and Canada over the killing of Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, two men have pleaded guilty to the killing of Ripudaman Singh Malik, a Canadian citizen of Indian origin, who was an accused in the 1985 Air India Kanishka bombing case.??
Ripudaman Singh Malik murder
Tanner Fox and Jose Lopez entered the pleas in the British Columbia (BC) Supreme Court on Monday for the killing of 75-year-old Malik, who was shot dead outside his family business on the morning of 14 July 2022.??
Malik, who came to Canada in 1972 and founded the Khalsa Credit Union and Khalsa School, was accused of conspiracy in the 1985 Air India Flight bombing that killed 329 people. However, he, along with his co-accused Ajaib Singh Bagri, was acquitted in 2005 of mass murder and conspiracy charges.??
Reacting to Malik's killing, his son Jaspreet Malik had said in 2022 that he hoped that it was not related to the Kanishka bombing.??
Also read:?'I Pray It's Not Related To Kanishka Bombing': Says Son Of Sikh Businessman Shot Dead In Canada
'Who hired the accused?'
According to Canadian media, Fox and Lopez, who were hired to kill Malik, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder. They will next appear in court on 31 October for sentencing.??
In response to the duo's guilty plea, Jaspreet said, "Fox and Lopez were hired to commit the murder, and until the parties responsible for hiring them and directing this assassination are brought to justice, the work remains incomplete."??
Air India Kanishka bombing
The 1985 Air India bombing was the worst terrorist attack in Canadian history and the history of the airline. Only one person, Inderjit Singh Reyat, was convicted in the case in Canada. He was released from prison in 2016 after serving 30 years behind bars.??
Also read: What happened to Air India Kanishka Flight in 1985
The guilty plea comes at a time when Canada has accused Indian diplomats in the country of involvement in covert operations to target pro-Khalistan Canadian Sikhs.
For more news and current affairs?from around the world, please visit?Indiatimes News.
