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Lipdaman Sinmalik, one of the two men acquitted in the 1985 Air India terror bombing, was killed in a targeted shooting in Sally, British Columbia.
The combined murder investigation team issued a statement on Thursday confirming Malik’s death, stating that the shootings appeared to have been targeted and were believed to pose no further risk to the public.
An employee working at a nearby car wash said he heard the ammunition on Thursday morning and ran outside, finding Malik unconscious in the red Tesla.
“There were three gunshots. That was all I hit my neck. And I took him out. He was alive,” said a man who didn’t want to be named because of safety concerns. ..
Police arrived in about 10 to 15 minutes, and the ambulance took longer, he said.
The man said he knew Malik as a customer at the car wash and was doing business nearby.
Jaspreet Malik said in a social media statement that his 75-year-old father came to Canada in 1972 and is dedicated to his community and family, including his wife, five children and eight grandchildren.
“The media has always called him the person charged with the bombing of Air India,” Malik said. “The media and RCMP did not appear to have accepted the court’s decision. I hope today’s tragedy is not involved.”
Sarj Basra, owner of Auto Shine Car Wash and Detail, wasn’t working when the shooting happened, but said it was frustrating and scary to happen in the neighborhood.
“Someone we know died in violence,” Basra said.
“He was always joking. He was always here, talking to us and standing,” he said, adding that many of Malik’s cars were maintained in his business. ..
Carpet business Asaph Gil said he met Malik about 30 minutes before he was killed.
“But I came here and found this,” he said of the yellow police tape surrounding the scene where the close business community was shocked.
The murder team’s statement seeks public help to resolve the case.
“We know Malik’s background, but at this point we’re still working to identify the motivation,” Sgt said. Timothy Pieroti said.
He said the shootings took place in a residential area and they are confident that there are witnesses who can help resolve the crime.
The RCMP said shortly after the attack, a vehicle believed to have been used for the shooting was found caught in a fire a few blocks away.
Malik and his accomplice, Ajaive Simbaguri, were innocent of murder and conspiracy in March 2005 in two Air India bombings that killed 331 people on June 23, 1985.
During the trial, the British Columbia Supreme Court heard that a suitcase bomb was loaded onto a plane at an airport in Vancouver and transferred to Air India Flight 182 in Toronto.
The aircraft crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Ireland, killing 329 passengers and crew. About an hour later, a bomb aimed at another Air India plane exploded prematurely at Narita Airport in Tokyo, killing two baggage handlers.
Indelgit Singh Reyat, the only man convicted of the bombing, testified to the crown in the trials of Malik and Bagri and was later convicted of perjury.
Deepak Kandelwar, Oakville, Ontario, was 17 when his sisters, 21-year-old Chandra and 19-year-old Manju, were killed when Flight 182 fell from the sky.
“It’s like a nightmare that never stops giving,” he said of the failures made by police during the investigation and the investigation of Canada’s worst mass murder during the years it took for the trial to begin. I did.
“This only regains all the horrifying memories that we had to experience in the last 37 years,” said Kandelwar, whose family lived in Saskatoon when the bombing took place.
“I was supposed to fly too,” he said. “I was in 12th grade and got a scholarship to go to the University of Calgary program, so I actually canceled it a few days ago. So I do it instead of going to my uncle’s wedding. I chose that. “
Kandelwar and other families, part of the Air India Victims Family Association, said the Government of Canada did not provide them with the support they needed after death. Most of the victims were Canadians.
“I hope the Government of Canada and government agencies can do a better job,” he said.
Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a formal apology in 2010, stating that until the terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001, families affected by the worst terrorist attacks in aviation history were not respected.
Hamilton’s Rob Alexander was 15 when his father boarded Flight 182 to visit his mother in India.
Alexander was to go with his father, cardiac surgeon Dr. Matthew Alexander. He was booked before switching to Air France because the Air France flight turned out to be cheap.
“He said to me,’Go to your basketball camp. I’ll be back in 10 days.”
Alexander said he is working on ways to deal with hearing about Malik’s death.
“It’s a very strange feeling to explain, after all, because we’ve experienced all the wounds and trauma and haven’t had government support for years,” he said.
Alexander and other families acknowledge the credit of the Irish Cork residents who assisted them when they arrived to identify the bodies of their loved ones.
The family had not heard for days that everyone on board had died. Alexander said his dad believed he was busy helping people as a 40-year-old surgeon who “has just begun his journey and is highly respected in his community.”
Hina Alam and Camille Bain
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