Two men have pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a Canadian court for their role in the killing of Sikh businessman Ripudaman Singh Malik, who was acquitted of the 1985 bombing of an Air India flight.
Malik and a co-defendant were found not guilty of murder and conspiracy in the June 23, 1985, bombing of the plane that caused it to crash in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 passengers and crew. It remains Canada’s worst air disaster to date.
On the same day, another bomb went off in a Tokyo airport, killing two Japanese baggage handlers. That bomb was believed to have targeted another Air India flight to Bangkok before exploding prematurely.
Tanner Fox and Jose Lopez entered their guilty plea on Monday in the British Columbia Supreme Court in New Westminster in the 2022 shooting death of 75-year-old Malik.
The two, who were originally charged with first-degree murder, are scheduled to be sentenced on October 31.
The case has attracted renewed scrutiny amid growing tensions between India and Canada, after Ottawa accused New Delhi’s government agents of involvement in the killing of prominent Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, in June 2023.
In May, it was reported that investigators were also probing whether India was behind the killing of Malik, who was a one-time supporter of the separatist Khalistan movement for a Sikh nation in India.
While the movement has lost traction in India, it has strong support among sections of the Sikh diaspora in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
At the time of the Air India bombings, investigators blamed them on Sikh separatists widely believed to be seeking revenge for the Indian Army’s deadly storming of the Golden Temple – the holiest shrine in the Sikh religion – in Punjab state a year earlier.
In a statement, Malik’s family said while the family was “grateful” that Fox and Lopez were brought to justice, the “work is not complete” as they urged the two men to cooperate with police “in bringing those that hired you to justice”.
“Tanner Fox and Jose Lopez were hired to commit this murder,” the statement added.
Court documents showed both Fox and Lopez have previous criminal records.
The Vancouver Sun newspaper reported that a fistfight broke out between the two suspects in court, before sheriffs broke up the brawl and forced them to the ground.
Malik was shot dead in his vehicle outside his business in Surrey, British Columbia, on July 14, 2022.
Malik’s son, Jaspreet Singh Malik, has said family members had never heard of Fox or Lopez, and he did not know why anyone would kill his father.
The Malik family also called the killing an assassination without identifying who they believed to be the mastermind.
Earlier this month, Canadian police said they had launched a special unit to investigate multiple cases of extortion, coercion and violence, including murders linked to agents of the Indian government.
Canada expelled six Indian diplomats who police named as people of interest in the cases and India expelled six Canadian diplomats.
Canadian police alleged that the diplomats used their position to collect information on Canadians within the Khalistan movement and passed it on to criminal gangs who targeted individuals directly, allegations that India has denied.
