New leads spell fresh hope in Air India terror probe

With 20 Canadian investigators still actively pursuing leads in the Air India bombing case, there seems to be some hope to see the guilty brought to justice.
But few of the victims’ families  believe that the people behind Canada’s worst mass murder will ever be caught.
Only Inderjit Singh Reyat - who admitted his role in the bomb that blew up Air India flight 182 near the Irish coast June 23, 1985, killing all passengers, mostly Indo-Canadians - has been convicted for the bombing.
Two other suspects - Ajaib Singh Bagri and Ripudaman Singh Malik - were acquitted in 2005 for lack of evidence, even though the verdict said the bombs were planted by Vancouver-based Khalistani elements.  Plot mastermind Talwinder Singh Parmar, who fled to India, was killed in a police encounter in Punjab in 1992.
The inquiry report released has thrown up new leads which could be helpful in the on-going criminal investigation.
One important source for the investigators is a witness called ‘Mr G’ who wanted to talk to the inquiry commission in 2007 but was stopped by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who didn’t want to jeopardise their ongoing criminal investigations.
The inquiry report describes ‘Mr G’ as “an important figure in the Sikh extremist movement (in Canada) in 1985 who is believed to have knowledge about the Air India bombing.’’
According to the inquiry report, ‘Mr G’ has expressed his willingness to help in the on-going criminal investigations into the bombing plot.
“Bringing those responsible to justice for the bombing must always remain a priority and every possible avenue should be explored, regardless of the timing or the reasons for the initial probing,’’ Justice John Major says in his report.
Though the victim families have welcomed the inquiry report for blaming the Canadian government for their tragedy, they say justice will be done only when the guilty are brought to justice.
Toronto-based Bal Gupta, who set up the Air India Victims’ Families Association soon after losing his wife in the bombing  said after the report was released: “Today’s report only closes a chapter in our lives. There will never be any closure to our tragedy. How can there be a closure for eight couples who lost all their children in the bombing? These old couples are now living in twilight without their lights,” Gupta told IANS.
A former hydro engineer who moved to Canada in 1968, Gupta said, “Today is a bitter-sweet day. Bitter in the sense that the report confirms our suspicions. Bitter in the sense that 20 years is a little too late.”
Mississauga-based Lata Pada, who lost her husband and two daughters in the bombing, told IANS, “Though the report does some justice to us, the sad part is that there will never be conviction of the killers.”
She said, “There will never be closure to their tragedy. But the report has at last acknowledged that it was a Canadian tragedy, that the Canadian system failed us.”
Former Canadian health minister Ujjal Dosanjh, who briefly met some of the victim families, said, “ At last, there is some comfort for them that the report has validated what they believed - that some Canadians conspired to kill fellow Canadians.”