Accused in 2022 murder of Ripudaman Singh Malik sentenced to life in Canada
Ripudaman Singh Malik was a controversial figure due to being named as an accused in the Kanishka bombing on June 23, 1985, which led to the death of 329 persons
Toronto: A 24-year-old accused in the 2022 murder of Ripudaman Singh Malik has been sentenced to life imprisonment without the option of parole for 20 years.
Tanner Fox was found guilty of second degree murder and British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Terence Schultes handed out the sentence in the courtroom in the town of New Westminster on Tuesday.
Reading from a prepared statement at the sentencing, Fox said, “I know nothing I say will bring him back. I’m sorry for the role I played in this crime.”
However, he did not reveal who hired him for the killing, which he allegedly undertook along with co-accused Jose Lopez, who has still to be sentenced.
Malik’s daughter-in-law Sundeep Kaur Dhaliwal begged Fox to reveal the identities of those behind the murder, saying that was “the right thing to do”, according to the outlet Vancouver Sun.
The prosecution said the two accused shotMalik“multiple times” and the act was “a planned and deliberate killing” and they were “financially compensated for killing him”.
Malik was a controversial figure due to being named as an accused in the Kanishka bombing on June 23, 1985, which led to the death of 329 persons.
That attack by pro-Khalistani extremist remains the worst incident of terrorism in Canadian history. However, he was acquitted due to lack of evidence, along with another accused Ajaib Singh Bagri. Only the bombmaker Inderjit Singh Reyat was convicted but was released in 2016 after completing nearly two-third of his sentence.
In early 2022, Malik issued a public letter disavowing the Khalistan movement and praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was also believed to have an ongoing dispute with pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was killed in the same town on June 18 last year. Removed from a blacklist, Malik visited India that year, prior to being murdered.
Malik was killed on July 14, 2022, as he sat in his vehicle in the parking lot of his business in Surrey.
However, the separatist group Sikhs for Justice or SFJ has accused India of being behind Malik’s killing, as was the case with Nijjar, as alleged by Canadian authorities including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
