Air India bombmaker a free man, for now

Vancouver: Smiling and wearing his trademark blue turban, convicted terrorist Inderjit Singh Reyat walked out of jail a free man for the first time in more than 20 years yesterday afternoon.
The 56-year-old bomb-maker, a former resident of Duncan, was escorted across the parking lot of the North Fraser Correctional Centre by his son Didar, two brothers and their wives before getting into a vehicle and driving off just before 5 p.m.
An hour earlier, members of the Reyat clan told reporters gathered at the Port Coquitlam pretrial jail that they were happy the patriarch -- who has been convicted in two separate bombings involving 331 deaths -- was finally going to be reunited with his loved ones.
Despite serving two sentences for manslaughter in the June 23, 1985, Air India bombing and same-day blast at Tokyo's Narita Airport, Reyat is still facing a perjury charge next January that carries a maximum 14 year-sentence.
He is alleged to have lied 27 times while a Crown witness at the trial of two other Air India suspects, who were both later acquitted.
The former automotive electrician moved his family to England after being identified as a suspect in the bombings. He was arrested there in February 1988 and unsuccessfully fought his extradition.
His wife Satnam rents a house on in Surrey, where she lives with her three adult daughters. Son Didar had been living with his wife in the Toronto area, but recently moved back in with his mother.
The court is refusing to release details of the conditions under which Reyat will remain in the community, but the Vancouver Sun reported that $500,000 in bail had to be secured as part of the arrangements.
11/07/08 Kim Bolan/Canwest News Service/Times Colonist, Canada

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Categories: Air India - International Jul 2008, Foreign Jul 2008, NACIL Jul 2008, Safety Jul 2008