(Courtesy: The Province) VANCOUVER: Tips are already ‘coming in after RCMP dangled a $1- million carrot before anyone who can provide help in prosecuting a B.C, gang which blew up an Air India jumbo jet, killing 329 people. RCMP last week offered the reward, the largest ever in Canadian criminal history, in a bid to flush out suspected Sikh militants.
The militants have been targeted by police since the explosion onJune23, 1985 At a press conference in Vancouver, ROMP laid bare details of what they ‘said was the largest and most expensive criminal probe they’ ve conducted. Assistant commissioner Dennis Brown, sitting in front of parts of the downed aircraft’s fuselage, said he hoped the reward would prompt some how to blow the whistle on perpetrators of the “reprehensible crime.” RCMP said they are coming for- ward with the reward now because their probe has reached an “acute stage” and needs some direct information that would lead to charges. One hour before the Air India jet- Timer exploded off the coast of Ire- land, a bag flown to Tokyo’s Narita Airport by a CP Air jet from Vancouver exploded in the Japanese terminal building, Fwo baggage-handlers died and four were injured Duncan resident Inderjit Singh Reyat was convicted in 1991 of being the man who made the bomb that Killed the baggage-handlers, The bag was destined to be loaded on an Air India flight leaving Tokyo. Brown last week officially linked the two explosions.
“The RCMP is confirming that the bombing of Air India Fight 182 and the Narita bombing are indelibly linked.” he said.
Nearly 200 Mounties worked on the case at the outset, the cost so far is $200 million.
RCMP supervised operations to salvage debris from the jet in 1985, 1989 and 1991. The recovered material has led scientists to conclude a bomb downed the aircraft. Police said they have six suspects.
They also confirmed that Talwinder Singh Parmar, leader of the Punjabi separatist group Babar Khalsa- Tigers of True Faith – was the RCMP’s “main suspect” in the air disaster,
Parmar, of Burnaby, was killed October 1992 in a shootout with Indian police.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 9, 1995
