Courtesy: The Province VANCOUVER: Police say two composite drawings obtained by The Province are the faces of the men who could hold the key to solving the bombing of Air India Flight 182. The composites, supplied by a source that would not be identified, were produced by police artists after interviewing witnesses who came face-to-face with two members of a B.C. militant cell in June 1985. RERCMP believe small group of B.C. men, led by the late Talwinder Singh Parmar of Bumaby, concocted and planted the bomb that ripped apart the A is India 747 on June 23, 1985, killing all 329 crew and passengers.
An hour earlier, a bomb dispatched by the same group exploded in luggage carried 10 Tokyo by a CP Air el from Vancouver. Two baggage handlers were killed.
Police said the combined death toll could have exceeded 700 had the bomb carried to Tokyo exploded 20 minutes earlier while the plane carrying more than 390 people was still over the Pacific. ‘When shown a composite drawing of a bearded, turbaned man, RCMP spokesman Sgt. Peter Montague said last week, “that composite pertains to a person who purchased two tickets with cash at the CP office on West Georgia Street on June 20, 1985.”
Montague said a second composite of a curly haired, well-dressed man ‘of East Indian descent is that of an M, ‘Singh, who convinced a CP Air clerk to “interline” his bag with the doomed ‘Air Indian jumbo jet, which was laying from Toronto for New Delhi via ‘London.
- Singh had a CP Air ticket from Vancouver to Toronto but was on & standby for the Air India flight and did not have confirmed seating on that plane. It is learned the composite of the man who bought two tickets was on the description by a CP Air agent, hypnotized to aid his recollection. ‘The agent told police the man sounded like a travel agent, was weal it 2 mustard colored turban, was in his late 30s and was between 5 feet 10 inches and six feet tall. He weighed 200 to 220 pounds,
The suspect was wearing a beige windbreaker, a prominent diamond ring on his right ring finger and his beard was tucked under a cosmetic net often used by Sikh men. His moustache did not touch his beard.
A second composite drawing was based on the recollection of a CP Air counter clerk at Vancouver airport ‘who said he came face-to-face with a persistent man at around 8 am, on June 22, 1985.
The clerk described the man as a wavy-haired East Indian with “distinctive” brown eyes who insisted that his bag be connected with Air Indian ‘Toronto, even though he did not have a confirmed booking. The clerk said the suspect was 24 to 45 years old, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and wore Western style clothing either a suit or sport jacket.
RCMP said the composites were made several years ago, but investigators had previously used them only as investigative leads.
Montague said there is “new methodology in place now,” and police decided to confirm the existence of the composites to coincide with their offer of a $1-million reward the case. Police believe the two men have been close associates of Parmar and his gang.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 16, 1995
