DSGMC condoles killing of Air India bombing accused

Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee on Friday condoled the killing of Ripudaman Singh Malik who was acquitted in 1985 Kanishka bombing case, saying he always talked of serving the humanity.Malik, 75, was shot dead in Surrey in Canadas British Columbia on Thursday.

Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee on Friday condoled the killing of Ripudaman Singh Malik who was acquitted in 1985 Kanishka bombing case, saying he always talked of serving the humanity.

Malik, 75, was shot dead in Surrey in Canada's British Columbia on Thursday. He was acquitted along with another accused in 2005, of charges of mass murder and conspiracy related to the two bombings in 1985 that killed 331 people.

''It's a very painful and unfortunate news. Malik always talked of serving the humanity and for many years he was helping immigrants in Canada,'' DSGMC president Harmeet Singh Kalka said Malik also was instrumental in opening a credit bank and school for the needy in Canada and his ''assassination'' is ''highly shameful'' incident, Kalka said.

''His name was connected with Kanishka airplane bombing but he was acquitted in 2005. His death is a big loss for the Sikh community,'' said the DSGMC president in a video message.

On June 23, 1985, the Air India flight 182, carrying 329 people, including 268 Canadian citizens and 24 Indian citizens, flew from Toronto and stopped in Montreal from where it was en route to London and then onwards to its final destination Bombay.

The plane was flying 31,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean when a suitcase bomb exploded in the front cargo, killing all on board.

Another bomb was meant to be planted in an Air India flight scheduled to take off from Japan but it exploded at Tokyo's Narita airport killing two baggage handlers.