EVEN as Jose Lopez, the second killer of businessman Ripudaman Singh Malik, 75, on Friday received an automatic life sentence with no eligibility to apply for parole for 20 years in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster, the victim’s son, Jaspreet Singh Malik, made a fervent plea for the RCMP to bring to justice those who hired Lopez and the other killer, Tanner Fox.
Lopez and Fox were both originally charged with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the July 14, 2022 shooting death of Malik in Surrey. Fox, too, was sentenced earlier this year to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 20 years.
Malik, who was acquitted in the 1985 Air India bombing, was shot dead at a business complex at 8236 128 Street where his business Papillon Eastern Imports Ltd is located.
The prosecutor stated in the B.C. Supreme Court in January: “On July 14, 2022 at approximately 9:24 a.m., Mr. Fox and Mr. [Jose] Lopez acted together to shoot and kill Mr. Malik as he sat in his vehicle in the parking lot of his business. They shot him multiple times. This was a planned and deliberate killing of Mr. Malik, and they were financially compensated for killing him.”
The prosecutor said that two handguns were used in the killing with seven shots fired at close proximity from outside the driver’s side of the Tesla. The shots struck Malik from his left side, and he was killed while sitting in the driver’s seat.
Outside the court on Friday, Malik’s son told the media that the family’s “journey will end when those who hired Mr. Fox and Mr. Lopez are brought to justice … I am calling on the RCMP to be active in continuing that investigation to bring those who hired Mr. Fox and Mr. Lopez … to justice.”
He added: “And for the members of the public watching, if you know something or if you’ve heard something, please call the RCMP.” He pleaded with them to “cooperate with the RCMP” so that those who hired the two killers could be brought to justice.
In reply to a question about offering a reward to catch those who had hired the killers, Malik said: “Our family has suggested to the RCMP that a reward may be of assistance. As of today, the RCMP have not taken us up on that and have indicated to us that a reward can only be offered through their cooperation. But our family is prepared to do so if the RCMP would agree.”
Responding to another question, Malik said that he was “concerned for two reasons.” He added: “When Mr. Fox and Mr. Lopez were arrested, the Superintendent of the Surrey RCMP said that the case was solved and clearly it’s not.”
And second, “the indications we’ve gotten are that this may involve other political things that are beyond necessarily police work and obviously we don’t control policies. We need the political people to make sure they’re pushing the RCMP to continue this investigation.”
THE VOICE wrote in July 2022: “Earlier this year, sources told The VOICE that Malik may have been targeted because he reportedly wrote a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing his “deep heartfelt gratitude” for the unprecedented positive steps taken by his government for the Sikh community, as reported by the Hindustan Times newspaper of India on January 18.”
He also “showed concerns at an “orchestrated campaign” by some misguided members of the Sikh community against the Modi government and India,” the newspaper said.
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