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Investigation into the Kanishka Bombing
1985
The arrest of three Sikh terrorists in Vancouver, Canada for their
alleged role in the bombing of an Air India (AI) flight on June 23,
1985 marks a crucial stage in the 15-year investigation carried out
by the Canadian authorities in cooperation with the Indian government
into the incident. The AI flight 182
Kanishka
on June 23, 1985
from Toronto with a brief stopover at Montreal was
en route
to
New Delhi when it exploded off, the coast of Ireland while it was preparing
to land at the Heathrow airport. The mid-air explosion which killed
all the 329 people on board is widely considered to be one of the world's
deadliest acts of terrorism and civilian aviation sabotage. Investigations
reveal that it was one of two related bomb explosions allegedly carried
out by Sikh terrorists. The other explosion occurred at the Narita airport
in Tokyo killing two people.
The long drawn-out investigation, still in progress, into the AI flight
bombing has been carried out by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
in conjunction with police authorities in India, North America, Europe
and Asia. After a 15-year probe, the RCMP on October 27, 2000 arrested
two Sikh terrorists based in Canada for their alleged role in the incident.
The RCMP arrested another unidentified suspect on October 29, 2000 and
released him on bail after interrogating him for nearly 24 hours. The
two terrorists arrested on October 27 identified as Ripudaman Singh
Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri have been remanded to judicial custody in
Vancouver. Two other terrorist, Talwinder Singh Parmar and Inderjit
Singh Reyat have been declared as co-conspirators in both the incidents.
Talwinder Singh Parmar, a Babbar Khalsa terrorist was killed by the
Punjab Police in 1992. Inderjit Singh Reyat was sentenced in 1991 to
serve a 10-year imprisonment for manufacturing the bomb intended to
blow-up the AI flight. Both Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri
been charged on eight counts including criminal conspiracy and fist-degree
murder.
Canadian authorities after protracted investigations have made a preliminary
ascertainment to the effect that the flight was destroyed through a
bomb that passed through the security-check at the Vancouver airport
onto a Canadian Pacific airline. The bomb then found its way to the
AI flight
Kanishka
in Toronto. Indications are that an unidentified
suspect brought air tickets in Vancouver that allowed the two bomb-laden
suitcases to pass through airport security. No passenger boarded the
flight with these tickets. One of the two suitcases was transferred
in Toronto to AI flight 182. The other suitcase was to have been transferred
to an AI flight from Japan to India. But, the bomb exploded prematurely
at the Narita airport in Tokyo killing two baggage handlers. The unidentified
suspect was arrested in Canada as early as November 1985 but was released
due to lack of evidence. Inderjit Singh Reyat was found guilty of manslaughter
and making explosive substances among other charges and received a 10-years
sentence and a firearm prohibition of 5 years for his role in the Narita
airport incident.
The Canadian authorities, in the aftermath of the bombing, suspected
Sikh terrorists of planting the bombs in revenge for 'Operation Blue
Star', the 1984 security forces raid aimed at flushing out terrorists
from the Golden temple in Amritsar. According to an RCMP spokesperson,
the bombings were planned and organised in Canada. The Canadian probe,
the longest and one of the costliest - the RCMP is reported to have
already incurred an expenditure of 30 million Canadian dollars - was
also a complex investigative process as it had too many people to interrogate
in various countries. Moreover, in the initial phase, the authorities
were unsure about the place or origin of the bombs - Canada, India or
elsewhere. In the light of the evidence gathered so far and the recent
arrests, the RCMP is in the process of planning arrests of at least
four other suspects. The RCMP also believes that the release of a third
suspect-although unidentified, sources claim that it was Hardiyal Singh
Johal, a 'prominent ' member of the Sikh community in British Columbia-
would not be a setback to the ongoing investigation process and the
formal charging of the suspects in the British Columbia Supreme Court.
Immediately after the 1985 bombing of the
Kanishka,
the Indian
government had instituted the Justice B.N Kirpal Commission of Inquiry.
The main agenda of the Kirpal Commission was to explore whether AI flight
182 had crashed due to an explosion, a machine failure, or human error.
It arrived at a clear conclusion that the AI flight had exploded in
mid-air and had fallen into the ocean because of a bomb which had planted
in Canada. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which had assisted
the RCMP in its probe also constituted a investigation process. The
CBI findings established that the bombing was the handiwork of Babbar
Khalsa International (BKI), a terrorist outfit in Punjab and the mastermind
was Talwinder Singh Parmar, a frontranking leader of the same outfit.
Since the main area of investigation is in Canada, the CBI was largely
associated in collecting information, documents and evidence sought
by the RCMP.
Official sources in India have reported that the while the Indian
government views the arrests of the terrorists as a positive development,
it would wait for the completion of the probe by the Canadian authorities
before deciding on any future course of action. Reports also indicate
that the government has so far not made any official request for the
extradition of the arrested suspects as the offence was committed in
Canada and the trial is also due to take place in the same country.
Moreover, there are no proceedings pending against the arrested terrorists
in India.
Profile of Accused
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