Air India Kanishka Bombing Convict Released From Canadian Prison

Sole convict in the 1985 Air India blast in Ireland, Inderjit Singh Reyat, released in Toronto, Canada.

Victims of the Air India jumbo jet which crashed 150 miles off the coast of Cork, Ireland at the Cork Regional Hospital on 24 June 1985. (Photo: Reuters)

Inderjit Singh Reyat, the lone convict in the 1985 case of Air India Kanishka bombing that killed all 329 people on board, was released on Wednesday from a prison in Toronto, Canada after serving two decades behind bars.

On 23 June 1985, Air India Flight 182 exploded over the coast of Ireland on its way to Heathrow Airport in London. Within an hour of the first blast, a separate luggage bomb destined for another Air India flight, bound for Mumbai from Tokyo, killed two people and injured four before reaching Japan’s Narita airport.

Officers, Irish sailors, and rescue workers look on as the 329 victims of the Air India jet are lined up on the docks in Cork, Ireland on 24 June 1985. (Photo: Reuters)

The Japan explosions killed two baggage handlers as they transferred cargo. Both bombs were hidden in suitcases and checked in at Vancouver airport.

268 out of the 329 victims were Canadians of Indian-origin and 24 were Indians.

Vancouver-based Khalistani extremists had planned the bombing to avenge the 1984 army action at the Golden Temple in Amritsar to flush militants.

Also read: Kanishka Bombing, the Deadliest Air Attack Before 9/11

Charges Against Inderjit Singh Reyat

A mechanic migrated from Punjab, Reyat bought the dynamite, detonators and batteries that took the lives of 329 passengers on Air India’s Flight 182.

In 1991, Reyat was convicted of manslaughter in the deaths of two baggage handlers. He served 10 years for that crime. He also got five years for another manslaughter charge in the Air India bombing.

(Photo: The Quint)

Reyat was convicted of perjury in 2010 for lying to the court in 2003 during the trial of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, who were acquitted in the terrorist attack.

Reyat got nine years for perjury, the longest such sentence ever given in Canada, although he was given credit for time served awaiting trial. His sentence began on 7 January 2011.

Reyat Released Before Completing Sentence

Patrick Storey, Pacific regional manager of the Parole Board of Canada, said Reyat has reached his statutory release date. He said, the board had no other option but to release him based on law mandate as there was no hearing held in the case.

<p>A statutory release is not a discretionary release. It’s an automatic release mandated by law. So his statutory release date is 27 Janaury 2016, and he reaches the end of his sentence on 6 August 2018. Wednesday (27 January) is the two-thirds mark in his sentence.</p>

<b>Patrick Storey, Pacific Regional Manager, Canada Parole Board to The Globe and Mail</b>

Reyat has been ordered to abide by several conditions set by the parole board, including having no contact with the victims’ families or alleged former co-conspirators, and no political activities.

Also read: Air India Kanishka Bombing Convict to Be Freed Soon

Storey said the board imposed eight conditions, including one that is seldom used, restricting where Reyat can live.

<p>He’s required to reside at a community correctional centre or a community residential facility, or any other residential facility approved by the Correctional Service of Canada. In other words he can’t go home, he has to go to a halfway house.</p>

<b>Patrick Storey, Pacific Regional Manager, Canada Parole Board</b>

Reyat, until 6 August 2018, cannot associate with anyone involved in criminal activity, or who has extremist or political views.

(With inputs from PTI)