New Delhi: The Canadian Police have warned Hardeep Malik — a Sikh businessman based in British Columbia, the son of an acquitted suspect in the 1985 Air India bombing case who had made amends with the Indian government and was shot dead in 2022 — of a potential threat to his life.
A ‘Duty to Warn’ letter was delivered to Malik by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police while his family was on a visit to France, according to CBC News.
Malik’s father Ripudaman Singh Malik was acquitted in 2005 in the case of the Air India bombing off the coast of Ireland, which led to the deaths of 329 people on board, including 268 Canadians. He was gunned down outside his office in Surrey in July 2022.
However, what is interesting is that Malik’s father had made up with the Indian government and had even got a visa to visit India.
Malik’s father had also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a letter in February 2022 for his efforts directed at the betterment of the Sikh community in India which drew sharp reactions from Sikh extremists groups.
However, CBC News reported Wednesday that the Canadian authorities have been probing whether the “government of India was behind the killing of the wealthy and controversial businessman”.
Indian agencies suspect he was killed by those who were upset with him for reaching out to the Indian government.
The development comes in wake of a diplomatic row between India and Canada after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged the involvement of the Indian government in the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in June 2023.
Several people associated with the Sikh separatist movement have received such warning notices in British Columbia, as a law in the province directs “authorities to notify people when they become aware of a threat to their safety”. Nijjar too had received a similar notice in June 2023, CBC News reported.
Ripudaman was among former Sikh separatists who were invited to “renounce their past allegiances in return for removal from Indian blacklists”, CBC News said.
The bomb attack on the Air India flight was one of the deadliest in Canadian history.
The Boeing 747 wide-bodied jet operating on the Montreal-London-Delhi-Bombay route was off the coast of Ireland when a bomb planted on it exploded. The attack was seen as retaliation for Operation Blue Star carried out under orders from then PM Indira Gandhi.
Three Canadian citizens, Ripudaman Singh Malik, Inderjit Singh Reyat and Ajaib Singh Bagri, were the main accused in the case. While Reyat was convicted, Bagri and Malik were acquitted.
This is an updated version of the report
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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