The two individuals responsible for the murder of Ripudaman Singh Malik, a suspect in the Air India bombing, are poised to receive their sentences after entering guilty pleas in a Canadian court on Monday. According to a report from the South China Morning Post, the court in New Westminster, British Columbia, has accepted the admissions of guilt from the assailants, Tanner Fox and Jose Lopez, who fatally shot Malik on July 14, 2022, in Surrey, British Columbia. Malik had been a key figure in the 1985 Air India bombings, which resulted in the deaths of 331 people, although he was later acquitted of the charges against him. The court has scheduled a hearing for Fox and Lopez on October 31 to determine their sentencing. In a statement released by Malik’s family, they expressed their gratitude for the progress in bringing the killers to justice, while also urging the two men to assist law enforcement in identifying those who orchestrated the murder. The family emphasized that “Tanner Fox and Jose Lopez were hired to commit this murder,” and insisted that until those who commissioned and directed the assassination are held accountable, the pursuit of justice remains incomplete. The underlying motive for Malik’s murder has not been definitively established, although it has been suggested that he was involved in a dispute with Khalistani leader Hardeep Nijjar regarding the printing of copies of the Guru Granth Sahib in Canada. Notably, Nijjar himself was killed by gunmen in Surrey a year later. Canadian authorities have indicated a connection between the two murders, yet they have not provided substantial evidence to support this assertion.
Malik was previously linked to the tragic incident involving Air India.
