A former suspect who was acquitted in the case of the bombing of two planes belonging to the Indian airline (Air India) that occurred in 1985, was shot dead yesterday, Thursday, in the Vancouver area in Canada, according to Canadian media.

Local media stated that Ripudaman Singh Malik, who was suspected to be a Sikh activist, was killed outside his clothing store, in what appears to be a targeted assassination according to the police.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police did not confirm the name of the deceased, but said they found a man "shot," explaining that he "died at the scene of his injury."

Police spokesperson Sarbjeet Sanga said that the car apparently used for the escape of the shooters was found kilometers away from the crime scene "completely burned."

Bloody attack

On June 23, 1985, a Boeing 747 exploded off the coast of Ireland that took off from Vancouver heading to India via Toronto, Montreal, and London, resulting in the death of 329 people, in the deadliest air attack before the events of September 11, 2001.

A second bomb prepared for another plane, belonging to Air India, exploded at Narita Airport in Tokyo, killing two baggage handlers.

The prosecution said that the two bombs were made in Vancouver by Sikh extremists who wanted to take revenge for the Indian army's attack on the Golden Temple in Amritsar, a site held in great reverence by Sikhs.

One man was convicted for the two attacks, Inderjit Singh Reyat, a Sikh who was residing in Canada at the time of the incidents.

Singh Reyat spent 15 years in prison after being convicted of helping to make the bombs, then served two-thirds of an additional nine-year sentence for perjury, before being released.

He was also accused of lying 19 times in the trials of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, who were ultimately acquitted in 2005 due to insufficient evidence.