Mounties might go home empty-handed

Amritsar: Five investigators of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) — who are in India in connections with the probe of June 1985 bombing of Air India’s 182 Kanishka flight, in which 329 persons were killed— might go home empty-handed.
The Punjab Human Rights Organisation (PHRO), whose investigations had unraveled various facts regarding attack by the Punjab militants, has refused to meet the investigating team, which is at present staying in Delhi.
The RCMP was in Chandigarh last week to question Jagtar Singh Hawara and Paramjit Singh Bheora, Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorists on death row for killing former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh.
The team, called the Air India Task Force (AITF), is headed by Sergeant Bart Blackford and was to question about 15 more persons. “We will not meet the investigators, as they have attached certain conditions, which include that during the meeting the CBI will sit along. We want direct dialogues with the RCMP,” said PHRO chairman Justice Ajit Singh Bains (retd). He said they have submitted their independent probe report to the Canadian government and now it was up to the RCMP to collect more evidence and witnesses.
Apart from Blackford, Mike Haney, Dan Sandhar, Joanne Baines and Bill Kalkat are part of the AITF team. The Canadian government has spent millions of dollars on investigation, but besides Inderjit Singh Reyat, who had made a confession, no conviction has taken place in the 23-year-old case.
Two other accused, Ajaib Singh Bagri and Ripudaman Singh Malik, were freed by the Canadian Supreme Court for want of “credible witnesses”.
19/11/08 Dharmendra Rataul/ExpressIndia

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