A Canada court on Tuesday handed life imprisonment without parole for 20 years to one of the hitmen who killed an Indian-origin man acquitted in a 1985 flight bombing case.
The hitman, identified as Tanner Fox, 24, and his accomplice, Jose Lopez, fatally shot Sikh businessman Ripudaman Singh Malik on July 14, 2022.
Jaspreet S.Malik making statement at New Westminster Supreme Court. Who hired Tanner Fox and Jose Lopez to carry out the contract killing on July 14, 2022? Tanner Fox, sentenced to 20 years in jail without parole until 2042 July.
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Video Credit, Sukhwant Dhillon pic.twitter.com/HNolJBl47R
Malik was a suspect in the 1985 bombing of an Air India flight but was later acquitted. Malik and his co-accused Ajaib Singh Bagri were acquitted by the British Columbia Supreme Court of killing 329 people in the flight bombing.
Air India flight 182 was flying from Canada to India on June 23, 1985, when it blew up off the Ireland's coast, killing all aboard. Most of the passengers were Canadian nationals visiting their kin in India. Simultaneously, another bomb was detonated in Japan, killing two airport staff.
The bombings came in the aftermath of the 1984 Operation Blue Star in the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
In October, the duo pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Malik. Lopez has been summoned by the court on February 6.
Who is Tanner Fox?
Tanner Fox, 24, was born in Thailand. He was adopted at the age of three by a couple from British Columbia's Abbotsford. Fox apologised for his actions in the court, saying, "I am sorry for all the pain and hurt that I have caused."
The prosecution stated that Fox and Lopez were financially compensated for the murder. However, the authorities could find any evidence regarding who hired the duo.
Malik's family has repeatedly urged Fox and Lopez to reveal who is behind the murder-for-hire plot.
