Two local criminals of Canada, arrested on charges of killing Sikh businessman Ripudaman Singh Malik - a rival of slain terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar - have pleaded guilty in a Canadian court, confirming a gangland killing angle. Malik was an accused in the 1985 bombing of an Air India flight (named after Kanishka) that killed 329 people, but was acquitted for lack of evidence.
Malik was shot dead on July 14, 2022 by Tanner Fox (23) and Jose Lopez (25), local goons with a history of run-ins with the law. Less than a year later, Nijjar, initially a suspect in Malik's killing, was shot and killed on June 18, 2023, in Surrey, British Columbia.
Fox and Lopez pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Malik amid high drama in court where they attacked each other, said local reports. They filed their pleas in British Columbia Supreme Court on the eve of their trial for first-degree murder.
Malik, local media said, had annoyed Nijjar and his aides by appealing for reconciliation with the Indian State.
Sikh businessman had praised Modi’s outreach to secessionists
Sikh businessman Ripudaman Singh Malik had praised PM Modi’s outreach to those who wished to disengage with secessionists.
A probe by Canadian Police in 2022 had revealed that Nijjar was in a legal dispute with Malik over the issue of the printing of the Sikh holy book — Guru Granth Sahib — in Surrey in violation of a religious edict issued by Akal Takht, the highest Sikh temporal seat. Malik’s son had filed a lawsuit against Nijjar to reclaim a specialised printing press. According to local media reports, Malik and his associate Balwant Singh Bandher had entrusted the press to Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Aug 2020.
Fox, from Abbotsford in British Columbia, hails from a town plagued by gang violence. His criminal record dates back to Nov 2019 when Abbotsford Police arrested him, then 19, for a parking lot stabbing incident involving a 17-year-old victim. He was sentenced to four months in prison besides two years of probation. Fox was out on bail in another offence at the time of Malik’s murder. Lopez was also convicted with a 18-month sentence in Sept 2019 on charges of assault and use of weapon for an incident in Abbotsford reported in 2018.
Malik (75) was shot several times in his car outside his family business. The Canadian Police had also zeroed in on two suspicious vehicles — a burnt car and another which was supposedly the getaway vehicle used by the assassins after the murder. The modus operandi involving a “car on fire” was reminiscent of several gang-related killings in the area in the recent past. It was employed also in the killing of one Gagandeep Sandhu (29) who was shot dead in his car in Burnaby area around the time Nijjar was killed.
Malik was shot dead on July 14, 2022 by Tanner Fox (23) and Jose Lopez (25), local goons with a history of run-ins with the law. Less than a year later, Nijjar, initially a suspect in Malik's killing, was shot and killed on June 18, 2023, in Surrey, British Columbia.
Fox and Lopez pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Malik amid high drama in court where they attacked each other, said local reports. They filed their pleas in British Columbia Supreme Court on the eve of their trial for first-degree murder.
Malik, local media said, had annoyed Nijjar and his aides by appealing for reconciliation with the Indian State.
Sikh businessman had praised Modi’s outreach to secessionists
Sikh businessman Ripudaman Singh Malik had praised PM Modi’s outreach to those who wished to disengage with secessionists.
A probe by Canadian Police in 2022 had revealed that Nijjar was in a legal dispute with Malik over the issue of the printing of the Sikh holy book — Guru Granth Sahib — in Surrey in violation of a religious edict issued by Akal Takht, the highest Sikh temporal seat. Malik’s son had filed a lawsuit against Nijjar to reclaim a specialised printing press. According to local media reports, Malik and his associate Balwant Singh Bandher had entrusted the press to Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Aug 2020.
Fox, from Abbotsford in British Columbia, hails from a town plagued by gang violence. His criminal record dates back to Nov 2019 when Abbotsford Police arrested him, then 19, for a parking lot stabbing incident involving a 17-year-old victim. He was sentenced to four months in prison besides two years of probation. Fox was out on bail in another offence at the time of Malik’s murder. Lopez was also convicted with a 18-month sentence in Sept 2019 on charges of assault and use of weapon for an incident in Abbotsford reported in 2018.
Malik (75) was shot several times in his car outside his family business. The Canadian Police had also zeroed in on two suspicious vehicles — a burnt car and another which was supposedly the getaway vehicle used by the assassins after the murder. The modus operandi involving a “car on fire” was reminiscent of several gang-related killings in the area in the recent past. It was employed also in the killing of one Gagandeep Sandhu (29) who was shot dead in his car in Burnaby area around the time Nijjar was killed.
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