Know About Ripudaman Singh Malik, Acquitted In Air India Kanishka Bombing Case, Shot Dead In Canada

Ripudaman Singh Malik, who was acquitted in the 1985 Air India terrorist bombing, was shot dead in Surrey in Canada's British Columbia province on July 14.  Air India Flight 182 was an Air India flight operating on the Montreal-London-Delhi-Mumbai route. The flight was operated using Boeing 747-237B registered VT-EFO on 23 June 1985. The flight disintegrated in mid-air en route from Montreal to London, at an altitude of 31,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean, as a result of the explosion from a bomb planted by Canadian Sikh militants. The remnants of the plane crashed into the ocean, and all 329 people on board - including 268 Canadians, mostly of Indian Hindu heritage - are killed. Only 131 bodies are ultimately recovered from the water by Irish salvage crews.

Know About Ripudaman Singh Malik:

Ripudaman Singh Malik went to Canada in 1972 and started off as a cab driver. Later, he became a successful businessman. He also became the president of a 16,000-member Vancouver-based Khalsa Credit Union (KCU).

He visited India in December 2019 after 25 years following PM Modi's decision to remove his name from the ‘blacklist’. At that time, he stayed in Delhi and visited Andhra Pradesh and Punjab as well.

Ripudaman Singh Malik wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the Punjab Assembly elections in February this year. He thanked Modi for taking necessary steps for the welfare of the Sikhs. 

Reports say that he was also a one-time supporter of the Sikh separatist Khalistan movement.

Ripudaman Singh was one of the accused in the 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182 Kanishka. It is one of the deadliest acts of airborne terrorism. 

Ripudaman Singh Malik spent four years in prison before his acquittal. He then sought $9.2 million as legal fees but a British Columbia judge rejected his claims for compensation.

He was allegedly associated with the Babbar Khalsa, a terrorist organisation responsible for many terrorist attacks in Punjab.

Also Read: Ripudaman Singh Malik 1985 Air India Bombing Suspect, Shot Dead In Canada