Remembering the 1985 Air India Flight 182 bombing: What happened that day

The main accused in 1985 Air India bombing case, Ripudaman Singh Malik, was shot dead in Canada on Thursday. He was acquitted of all charges in 2005

Ripudaman Singh Malik, an accused in the 1985 bombing of an Air India flight off the coast of Ireland, was shot dead in Surrey city of Canada on Thursday. Malik, 70, was acquitted of all charges in 2005.

Malik was on his way to his office when he was shot at him at 9:30 AM (7:35 PM IST). The local police believe it was a targeted killing, as reported by The Guardian. 

What is the 1985 Air India bombing?

Air India flight named Emperor Kanishka was on June 23, 1985 flying to London to Mumbai with a stopver at Delhi, when it exploded an altitude of 31,000 feet, killing all 329 people on board. Flight 181 originally took off from Toronto and landed at the Mirabel airport in Montreal, where it became Flight 182. More passengers boarded the flight as it got ready to depart to London, bringing the total to 329, including 22 crew members.

The journey of flight 182 to Mumbai included two stops, one at London's Heathrow Airport, and the other at Delhi's Palam airport. 

On the first leg, the flight departed for Heathrow airport. It made contact with the Shannon Air Traffic Control Center, but five minutes later, vanished off the radar screen.

A little while later, a bomb placed in cargo exploded killing all on board. It was at. Remnants of the plane were found off the Irish coast. The flight had 268 Canadians, 27 Britishers and 24 Indians.

It was the deadliest mass killing in the history of Canada. In fact, it was the deadliest attack in the history until 9/11 attack in the USA.

It has been attributed mainly to the terrorist outfit Babbar Khalsa, while a Canadian Commission of Inquiry also mentioned the International Sikh Youth Federation.

Another blast in Japan

On the same day, another bomb went off at the Narita airport in Japan killing two baggage handlers. It was later revealed that both bombs were a part of the same plan. This bomb was originally planted in a flight from Canada and then shifted to Air India flight 301 which was flying to Bangkok.

Malik was the main accused in the blast along with Inderjeet Singh Reyat and Ajaib Singh Bagri. Malik and Bagri were charged with 329 counts of murder, but they were acquitted for lack of evidence after Reyat said that he could not remember the details of the plot.

Reyat was charged with manslaughter and served 30 years in jail. He was released in 2016. Malik was acquitted in 2005 and later founded the Khalsa Credit Union.