British Columbia Supreme Court Sentences Hitman to Life for Assassination of Air India Bombing Suspect
On Friday, the Supreme Court of British Columbia sentenced 26-year-old Jose Lopez to life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole for 20 years for the murder of Ripudaman Singh Malik, a former suspect in the 1985 Air India bombing. Lopez, one of two gunmen involved in the killing, pleaded guilty to the crime alongside his accomplice, 24-year-old Tanner Fox, who received an identical sentence in January.
The fatal shooting took place on July 14, 2022, when Lopez and Fox gunned down Malik outside his business in Surrey, British Columbia. The execution-style attack ended the life of a man once linked to one of Canada’s deadliest terrorist incidents, though the motives—and the identities of those who orchestrated the hit—remain shrouded in mystery.
The sentencing hearing unfolded in New Westminster, where Lopez, clad in a black suit, faced the court in the presence of his family. Prosecutor Matthew Stacey described the killing as a calculated act, emphasizing its premeditated nature. “This was a deliberate and carefully planned assassination of Mr. Malik,” Stacey told the court, as reported by CBC. “The defendants were paid to carry out this act of violence.”
While the court established that Lopez and Fox were hired hitmen, no details have emerged about who commissioned the murder or why Malik was targeted decades after his alleged involvement in the Air India case. The bombing of Air India Flight 182, which killed 329 people, remains a haunting chapter in Canadian history, and Malik’s death has reignited questions about unresolved ties to that tragedy.
Lopez’s sentencing marks the second life term handed down in this case, mirroring the punishment meted out to Fox earlier this year. As the courtroom proceedings concluded, the broader story behind Malik’s assassination—and the shadowy figures who set it in motion—remains untold.
Malik Family Lives in Fear, Implores Hitman to Name Masterminds Behind Murder
The family of Ripudaman Singh Malik, a former suspect in the 1985 Air India bombing, is grappling with unrelenting fear and uncertainty following his 2022 assassination. During the sentencing of Jose Lopez, 26, one of two hitmen convicted in Malik’s murder, victim impact statements from Malik’s children laid bare their anguish. Speaking in British Columbia’s Supreme Court on Friday, they described living in constant dread, haunted by the unknown identities of those who ordered their father’s death. As reported by CBC, they made an emotional plea to Lopez, sentenced to life imprisonment with no parole for 20 years, to reveal who orchestrated the killing.
This was not the first time the family had issued such a desperate appeal. At the January sentencing of Tanner Fox, 24, Lopez’s accomplice in the July 14, 2022, shooting outside Malik’s Surrey, B.C., business, similar sentiments echoed through the courtroom. “Mr. Fox, we plead with you to reveal the names of the people who hired you. This is the right thing to do,” Sundeep Kaur Dhaliwal, one of Malik’s children, urged at the time, according to CBC. Fox, like Lopez, received a life sentence with a 20-year parole ineligibility period, but neither man has disclosed who paid them to carry out the execution.
Malik’s death—a brazen attack by two hired gunmen—revived scrutiny of his controversial past. In 2005, he was acquitted alongside Ajaib Singh Bagri of charges tied to the Air India Flight 182 bombing, which claimed 329 lives, and a related explosion at Tokyo’s Narita Airport that killed two baggage handlers. The twin attacks, among the deadliest acts of aviation terrorism in history, were attributed by a Canadian government inquiry to Sikh Khalistani separatists seeking retribution for India’s 1984 military assault on the Golden Temple. While bomb-maker Inderjit Singh Reyat was convicted of manslaughter, the acquittal of Malik and Bagri left lingering questions about accountability.
Prosecutor Matthew Stacey underscored the calculated nature of Malik’s murder during Lopez’s sentencing in New Westminster. “This was a deliberate and meticulously planned killing,” he told the court, noting that Lopez and Fox were financially compensated for the act. Yet, the bigger mystery—who hired them and why—continues to elude both the authorities and Malik’s grieving family.
For Malik’s children, the absence of answers compounds their trauma. Their pleas to the hitmen reflect a desperate hope for closure, but as Lopez and Fox remain silent, the shadow of fear persists, intertwining their personal loss with a decades-old national tragedy.
