Kanishka bomber Inderjit Singh gets bail after 20 yrs

{image-indrajit singh_10072008.jpg news.oneindia.in}Van couver, Jul 10: The only man ever convicted in connection with the 1985 Air India bombings was granted bail on Wednesday, July 10, as he awaits trial for allegedly lying to a Canadian court that he knew nothing about the plot.

Inderjit Singh Reyat, 55, will be allowed to walk out of prison for the first time in two decades after the ruling by Madam Justice Anne Rowles, of the B. C. Court of Appeal. Details of the ruling, including the reasons and the conditions placed on Reyat during his release, are subject to a publication ban. His perjury trial in Vancouver is scheduled to start in January. "The victims' families are deeply disappointed and seriously concerned about the implications of the release of Inderjit Singh."This decision pierces through them knowing that the only individual convicted in the bombing could be freed, even if he's only out on bail," he said.

"It's not necessarily a surprise," he added, "given that this matter deals with perjury charges, but it is certainly disappointing."
Bal Gupta, the husband of one of the bombing victims, told he was "very, very disappointed in the whole justice system" following the announcement.

Reyat has been in jail since his arrest in England in 1988 and extradition to Canada. He was convicted here in 1991 of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years in jail for his role in making a suitcase bomb that killed two workers at Japan's Narita airport as the men transferred luggage onto an Air India plane.

In 2003, Reyat also pleaded guilty to manslaughter for also making a suitcase bomb that exploded aboard Air India flight 182, killing all 329 people aboard, off the coast of Ireland.

The latest charge of perjury relates to his testimony at the terrorism trial of his alleged co-conspirators Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, who were acquitted in 2005'

OneIndia News