‘Longest investigation’: Investigation into bombing of Air India Kanishka plane still ongoing, says Canada

Canadian law enforcement authorities have issued a statement assuring that the investigation into the bombing of Air India Flight 182, the Kanishka, by terrorists with links to Khalistan remains active and ongoing. The statement comes on the 39th anniversary of the tragedy.

In a statement released Friday, Assistant Commissioner David Teboul, head of the federal policing program in the Pacific, said: “The impact of the largest terrorist loss of life in our country’s history, affecting many Canadians, has not diminished with time. The trauma caused by the June 23, 1985 bombing has affected generations. The Air India investigation is the longest and certainly one of the most complex domestic terrorism investigations the RCMP has conducted in our history. Our investigative efforts remain active and ongoing.”

He also urged the people of Canada to visit the four memorials to the victims in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Ottawa. “Over the years, visiting the memorials has been an opportunity to pay our respects to the victims and their families, and to show our appreciation to all those who have done so much to respond to and investigate the tragedy,” he said.

On June 23, 1985, an Air India plane en route from Canada to India via London exploded off the coast of Ireland. All 329 passengers and crew on board were killed.

The explosion was caused by a bomb hidden in a suitcase that had been brought on board the plane even though the ticket holder had not boarded. Among the victims were 268 Canadian citizens, mostly of Indian descent, and 24 Indian nationals. Only 131 bodies were recovered from the sea.

Despite the Task Force’s continued efforts, only bomb maker Inderjit Singh Reyat has been convicted in connection with the Air India tragedy. He was released from a halfway house in February 2017 and returned to his parents’ home under the supervision of the Parole Board of Canada.

Reyat is the only person convicted in connection with one of the world’s worst aviation terror attacks. He was initially sentenced to ten years in prison in Britain in 1991 for his role in the bombings in Japan. In 2003, he pleaded guilty in a Canadian court to manslaughter in connection with the bombing of Flight 182. This confession led to an additional five-year prison sentence for him.

Investigators have identified at least three suspects, including a man known as “Mr. X” who spent a week helping Reyat build the bomb used in the attack.

In a 2005 ruling, Justice IB Josephson of the Supreme Court of British Columbia recognized the violent separatist Khalistan movement as the motive behind the attack. Both the prosecution and the defence identified Talwinder Singh Parmar as the leader of the conspiracy.

Although these facts were confirmed in separate investigations led by retired judge John Major and Bob Rae, now Canada’s permanent representative to the United Nations, the separatist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) has offered 5 million Canadian dollars from pro-Khalistan elements to fund another commission of inquiry. This proposed commission would investigate the discredited conspiracy theory alleging Indian involvement in the Air India incidents.