Ripudaman Singh Malik killing has hallmarks of professional 'hit': B.C.'s former top cop

The killing of Ripudaman Singh Malik has all the hallmarks of a professional murder-for-hire, according to British Columbia's former solicitor general.

Kash Heed made the comments during an interview with CTV News on Saturday, while discussing the challenges he believes investigators will face in finding Malik’s killer -- or killers.

Malik was gunned down Thursday morning outside his Surrey business. Homicide investigators said a white Honda CRV pulled up more than two hours earlier, and that the occupants waited for Malik. The vehicle was later found burned in an alley nearby.

"These are the hallmarks of a hit person, or hit persons, doing this type of work, and it's quite common,” Kash Heed said, referencing the similarities to other shootings that have occurred in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, some linked to the ongoing gang conflict.

"It's going to be a difficult investigation, and the RCMP and other law enforcement agencies are really going to have to step up their game and try and find a confidential informant,” Heed said, adding that he believes police will have to find ways to guarantee the safety of anyone who assists with the investigation.

“There are people that will know what occurred to Mr. Malik a couple of days ago in Surrey, B.C.,” Heed said. “But they're not going to come forward if, in fact, they fear for their safety.”

Malik is known to most as one of two men acquitted in the 1985 Air India bombings. But the 75-year-old has a long history within both the Surrey business and Sikh communities.

Independent journalist Gurpreet Singh has been writing about Malik and the bombings for more than 20 years. He was 15 when what is often described as the worst mass murder in Canadian history occurred and was living in India at the time.

Singh is now based in Delta, B.C., and said he first started writing about Malik in the year 2000, when he was first arrested in the Air India case. He’s since conducted numerous interviews with him.

“From my perspective he was very accessible, very social,” Singh said, adding the last time the two men spoke was just last month to discuss Malik’s plan to bring the head of the Akal Takht (one of the highest members of the Sikh religion) to B.C.. Singh said Malik was trying to get the rights to publish Sikh scriptures in Greater Vancouver, which outraged some separatist groups.

“That tour was canceled because of the backlash he was getting from the Sikh community,” Singh said. “Malik was very upset about it, he acknowledged that during the conversation I had with him, but he never showed any signs of receiving any threats to his life.”

That sentiment was also echoed by members of Malik’s family, who said he was not worried about his safety prior to the fatal shooting.

Also this year, Singh said Malik created “outrage” among some members of the Sikh community for his public praise of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose controversial agricultural laws sparked massive, months-long protests by Punjabi farmers and their supporters. 

“Close to the Punjabi election earlier this year, he (Malik) writes a letter to Mr. Modi, a letter of support,” Singh said. “People were offended because it was shortly after the farmer’s protest, everybody was offended.”

Homicide investigators have said they believe Malik was targeted but that the motive for the shooting is unclear, urging the public not to speculate on the matter.

The killing prompted mixed reactions from the community, with many mourning Malik as the co-founder of the Khalsa School and Khalsa Credit Union. At the shooting scene, some who knew him were visibly shaken as officers swarmed the complex.

Others who continue to suspect Malik was involved in the Air India attack had more complicated feelings as they continue to seek accountability for the bombing.