Two men have been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Ripudaman Singh Malik.
Malik, the man acquitted in 2005 for bombings aimed at Air India jets that killed 331 people, was shot in his vehicle outside his business in Surrey, B.C., on July 14.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says 21-year-old Tanner Fox and 23-year-old Jose Lopez have been charged.
Police said after the murder that a vehicle with people inside had waited for hours that morning before Malik showed up and he was shot at about 9:30 a.m.
The same vehicle, a white Honda CRV, was found burned not far from the scene of the shooting.
Police released a photo and video of the car driving through a strip-mall parking lot, but didn’t specify the number of people in the vehicle, saying they did not want to “taint” potential witnesses.
An employee who works at a nearby car wash said he heard shots on the morning Malik was killed and ran outside to find him unconscious in his red Tesla.
Malik and his co-accused, Ajaib Singh Bagri, were found not guilty of murder and conspiracy in the Air India bombings on June 23, 1985.
One bomb was on an Air India jet that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 passengers and crew.
About an hour later, a bomb destined for another Air India plane exploded prematurely at Tokyo’s Narita Airport, where two baggage handlers died.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2022.
The Canadian Press
