In British Columbia, two men who have been charged with the murder of former Air India bombing suspect Ripudaman Singh Malik have pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a Canadian court.
The courthouse in New Westminster, British Columbia said on Monday that Tanner Fox and Jose Lopez pleaded in the shooting death of Malik, who was acquitted in 2005 of the bombings that killed 331 people in 1985.
Fox and Lopez face murder first-degree charges, the charge they were indicted on. They are set for sentencing on Oct. 31.
In a statement, the family of Malik said: "While the family is grateful for the justice executed upon Kelly Fox and Jorge Lopez, the family asks these two men to cooperate fully with police "in bringing those that hired you to justice.".
Seventy-five-year-old Malik was stabbed to death in his car parked outside his business in Surrey, British Columbia, on July 14, 2022. He was a former separatist Khalistan sympathizer from India.
Malik and another accused were acquitted of murder and conspiracy charges relating to the 1985 Air India bombing. In one bombing at a high altitude, one plane was brought down over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ireland where the 329 passengers and crew members on board were killed. The was the worst mass murder act in Canadian history.
But less than an hour later, another Air India plane experienced a bomb that exploded at an airport in Japan, killing two baggage handlers.
Inderjit Singh Reyat, the lone bomber convict, testified for the prosecution in Malik and Bagri's trial and was later convicted of perjury. The bombers were also suspected to be Sikhs connected with the Khalistan movement, an attempt to create a separate homeland for Sikhs in India's Punjab state.
Police said before charging Fox and Lopez that people waited for hours in a vehicle for Malik before the shooting.
Malik's son, Jaspreet Singh Malik, said that he had never seen or heard of Fox or Lopez and did not know why anyone might want to kill his father.
The Malik family said in the statement that the killing was an assassination but would not say who they believe is involved.
"Tanner Fox and Jose Lopez were hired to commit this murder, said the statement. "Until the parties responsible for hiring them and directing this assassination are brought to justice, the work remains incomplete.".
"To Tanner Fox and Jose Lopez we say: You have taken a good first step in taking responsibility for your actions. Now take the next step and co-operate with the RCMP in bringing those that hired you to justice."
This month, Royal Canadian Mounted Commissioner Mike Duheme said that the force had launched a special unit to investigate multiple cases of extortion, coercion and violence, including murders, linked to agents of the Indian government.
Duheme said the RCMP were speaking out due to what it considered a serious threat to public safety.
Six Indian diplomats have been ordered out of Canada. The country has expelled the men after police there named them persons of interest in the murders. Police were not more explicit about which murders may be involved in the allegations.
Last year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Parliament there was credible intelligence that linked the Indian government to the murder of temple leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot while in his truck in the parking lot of the gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia.
Four men are charged in that murder.
Police are alleging diplomats used their position to collect information on Canadians within the Khalistan movement.
Mounties alleged the diplomats passed on the information to criminal gangs that targeted individuals directly, which India denied.
Both Fox and Lopez have a previous history of crime, as court documents indicate.
Read also| No Timeline for Ukraine War, Thanks Modi for Concern, Supports BRICS Description, Putin
