Canada sets free 1985 Air India flight Kanishka bomber Inderjit Singh Reyat
Canada's parole board spokesman Patrick Storey was quoted as saying, "That condition has been lifted now. Reyat is now free to go back to a normal life, and also has the option of living in a private residence."
In Short
- Reyat, who'd been in jail for 20 years, was asked to stay in a halfway house after leaving prison 1 year ago.
- Reyat was employed as a mechanic in Canada, bought dynamite and batteries to make bombs.
- Perpetrators of these blasts were allegedly keen to avenge the Golden Temple operation.
Canada has set free the lone person convicted in the 1985 bombing of Air India flight 182, called Emperor Kanishka, in which around 330 people were killed.
The convict Inderjit Singh Reyat, who had served two decades in prison, had been asked to stay in a halfway house after walking out of prison one year ago.
Canada's parole board spokesman Patrick Storey was quoted as saying, "That condition has been lifted now. Reyat is now free to go back to a normal life, and also has the option of living in a private residence".
Reyat, a Sikh immigrant from India, was convicted of making bombs that were stuffed into luggage bags and planted on 2 planes leaving Vancouver, and of lying in court to cover up for his co-accused.
ABOUT THE BLASTS
One bomb ripped apart Air India Flight 182 - Kanishka - as it approached the coast of Ireland, killing everyone on board.
The second bomb went off at Japan's Narita airport, killing 2 baggage handlers as they were transferring cargo to another Air India plane.
Also read | 1985 Air India Kanishka bombing: Inderjit Singh Reyat released from Canadian prison
There was a crackdown on Sikh militants in the wake of the blasts. It is believed that the perpetrators of these blasts were allegedly keen to avenge the Golden Temple operation.
Reyat was employed as a mechanic in western Canada and bought dynamite, batteries and other equipments used to manufacture bombs.
2 OTHERS ACQUITTED DUE TO LACK OF EVIDENCE
Two others, allegedly co-conspirators, were acquitted due to lack of evidence and, if the prosecutors are to be believed, due to Reyat's perjury.
Storey said Reyat's parole officer has thoroughly done a background check on those with whom he will live "to ensure they will not have a negative influence on him."
The conditions of his release from prison also still hold, including the one that he cannot have any contact with the families of the victims or with extremists.
Reyat has also been asked to give up all political activities and seek counseling for his violent tendencies, lack of empathy and exaggeratedly dominating set of beliefs.