Two men appeared in a Canadian court and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder related to the killing of Sikh businessman Ripudaman Singh Malik, acquitted in the 1985 bombing of an Air India flight.
Malik and a co-defendant had been acquitted of murder and conspiracy in the June 23, 1985, bombing of an Air India jet that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 329 passengers and crew. It was Canada’s deadliest aviation disaster.
On the same day, another bomb exploded at an airport in Tokyo, killing two Japanese baggage handlers. That blast was thought to have been intended for still another Air India flight.
Tanner Fox and Jose Lopez pleaded guilty on Monday in the British Columbia Supreme Court to the 2022 shooting death of the 75-year-old Malik. Earlier charged with first-degree murder, the two are due to be sentenced on October 31.
The case has taken fresh center-stage in rising tensions between India and Canada, especially after Ottawa accused Indian government agents of involvement in the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023. Investigators are also looking at whether India had links with Malik’s death, given his past support for the Khalistan movement.
Malik was shot dead in his car outside his business in Surrey, British Columbia, on 14 July 2022. Relatives welcomed the guilty pleas but said many questions remain about who ordered the murder and called for further investigation. Canadian police recently created a special task force to investigate some shootings thought to be connected to suspected agents of the Indian government. This issue has soured relations between the two countries.
