OTTAWA (ANI) – The Royal Canadian Mount Police (RCMP) has issued a warning to Hardeep Malik, the son of Ripudaman Singh Malik, who was acquitted in connection with the Air India bombing of 1985. Hardeep Malik, a Surrey-based businessman, received an official letter cautioning him about potential threats to his life. This comes in the wake of Ripudaman Singh Malik’s murder in 2022, for which two individuals have been charged, CBC News reported.
The CBC News report said that RCMP investigators are exploring the possibility of the Indian government’s alleged involvement in Ripudaman Singh Malik’s assassination, like its alleged role in the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar the previous year.
The warning issued to Hardeep Malik falls under the “Duty to Warn” protocol, a measure taken by authorities in British Columbia to alert individuals when their safety is at risk. The RCMP underscored that the threat must be considered likely to materialize.
Hardeep Malik is not the only one to receive such notice; others associated with the Khalistan separatist movement in British Columbia have also been cautioned.
CBC news report said that these developments lend credence to the suspicion that the Indian government’s alleged targeting of Sikh figures in Canada did not begin with Nijjar’s death, a claim repeatedly denied by India.
Earlier, in the aftermath of Ripudaman Singh Malik’s assassination, the RCMP extended warnings to several other Sikh-Canadian individuals, suggesting a broader pattern of potential threats.
While connections between Singh Malik’s murder and the Nijjar case are being investigated, conclusive evidence remains elusive, leaving the investigation ongoing.