Police knew about Air India confession, inquiry hears

Ottawa: The RCMP's Air India Task Force thoroughly investigated the purported confession of bomber Talwinder Singh Parmar and concluded it contained false information about the terrorist plot, the judicial inquiry heard Monday.
Insp. Lorne Schwartz said details of the alleged confession billed as "seismic evidence" at the Air India inquiry were in the hands of RCMP investigators in 1997, who followed up with interviews across Canada, in India and eventually in Pakistan.
Schwartz confirmed that the police were well aware a decade ago of material that was a surprise to inquiry lawyers when they were approached by the Punjab Human Rights Organization about Parmar's in-custody death several months ago.
A document supposed to have been translated from Parmar's interrogation by Punjab Police in 1992 was entered as an exhibit Monday, provided by two PHRO volunteers who testified.
It quotes Parmar saying he played a role in the June 1985 bombing, but only after he was approached by a leader of the International Sikh Youth Federation a month before.
Parmar, who founded the Babbar Khalsa terrorist group, blamed the bombing on ISYF leader Lakhbir Singh Brar and Inderjit Singh Reyat, who told police Parmar had been the mastermind.
"He asked some help from me, doing these intense activities. After conferring with him for some time, I agreed to help," Parmar is quoted as saying of Brar.
"He wanted to show the anger of the Sikhs to the whole world by doing some powerful explosions and to establish our recognition."
Parmar said that Brar brought Reyat to him four days later and "I was ready and the same three went in the car to the forest."
The statement appears to be referring to the June 4, 1985 test blast, conducted by Parmar and Reyat near Duncan -- on the south end of Vancouver Island -- with a mystery man police have dubbed Mr. X.
Parmar said Mr. X is Brar, who now lives in exile in Pakistan after being ordered deported from Canada. He is the nephew of slain militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
But the confession document inaccurately said Parmar returned "home" with Reyat and Mr. X, when in fact Parmar travelled back to Vancouver alone that day.
And it quotes Parmar providing inaccurate information about the purchase of airline tickets used in the deadly plot, Schwartz testified.
As well, the description police had of Mr. X did not match that of Brar, he said, as the ISYF leader was at least a decade older than the man the mysterious Mr. X.
24/09/07 Kim Bolan/CanWest News Service/National Post, Canada

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Categories: Air India - International Sep 2007, Foreign Sep 2007, Safety Sep 2007