Surrey, July 14: Ripudaman Singh Malik, one of two men acquitted in the 1985 Air India terrorist bombings, has been shot to death in Surrey, B.C.
A witness told CBC he heard three shots and that Malik was hit in the neck. A second witness from a nearby business confirmed Malik’s identity.
Surrey RCMP said a man was shot at that location at around 9:30 a.m. Pacific Time and succumbed to his injuries at the scene. Saying that it appeared to be a targeted shooting, police did not release the victim’s name.
A suspect vehicle was located engulfed in fire not far from the spot where the shooting took place, police said.
Malik, who was in his mid-70s, 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.
Malik and co-accused Ajaib Singh Bagri were acquitted in 2005 of mass murder and conspiracy charges related to a pair of bombings in 1985 that killed 331 people, mostly from the Toronto and Vancouver areas.
Of those who died, 329 were aboard Air India Flight 182 when it exploded in mid-air over the Atlantic Ocean on June 23, 1985. Another bomb destined for a separate flight exploded at a Tokyo airport, killing two baggage handlers.
The killings amounted to the worst mass murder in Canadian history. Among the dead were 280 Canadians and 86 children.
