- By Supratik Das
- Sat, 21 Jun 2025 03:21 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
In a major development before the 40th anniversary of the Air India Kanishka bombing, According to the TOI reports the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announced that it has finally identified the man who was long referred to only as "Mr. X", a prime suspect in the testing of the bomb that would subsequently destroy Air India Flight 182 in 1985 and kill all 329 on board. Although they have finally decided the man's identity, the RCMP has refused to release the man's name under Canadian privacy laws. The suspect died recently without ever being charged, Assistant Commissioner David Teboul said. "Even though the man is deceased, we cannot reveal his identity because of the current privacy legislation," said Teboul, the head of federal police in British Columbia.
The man, who was previously unknown for almost four decades, went to Duncan, British Columbia, on June 4, 1985, weeks before the bombing along with the alleged mastermind of the terror plot, Talwinder Singh Parmar. The two would later be joined by Inderjit Singh Reyat, an electrician who was the sole person convicted of the bombing. The alleged group entered the forest to explode a bomb, with agents from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) following them. Although agents also heard the blast, they confused it with a gunshot and did not act.
Air India Flight 182: Deadliest Terror Attack Before 9/11
Air India Flight 182, which flew the Montreal–London–Delhi–Mumbai route, detonated in mid-air off the Irish coast on June 23, 1985. The plane, called "Kanishka," was destroyed by a B.C.-manufactured bomb placed in checked baggage and killed all 329 on board including 307 passengers and 22 crew members. The majority of the victims were citizens of Canada but of Indian origin. The bombing is still one of the worst ever aviation terror attacks and the most deadly mass slaughter in Canadian history.
The RCMP revelation comes just ahead of a solemn memorial service in Ireland marking 40 years since the tragedy. Federal Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree will head the Canadian delegation to the ceremony, accompanied by Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin and a government representative from India. Dozens of victim families have already gathered in Ireland to honor their relatives in the memorial site where wreckage from the plane fell into the Atlantic.
Parmar Dead, Reyat Jailed, 'Mr. X' Escapes Justice
Talwinder Singh Parmar, the leader of the Khalistani extremist organisation Babbar Khalsa International, was shot by police in Punjab, India in 1992 before he could be brought to trial. Inderjit Singh Reyat had served jail time after pleading guilty to assisting with the bomb's construction. Reyat later said that he didn't know the third man's name and was found guilty of perjury in 2010. The recently identified Mr. X passed away, as reported by Canadian authorities, leaving a pivotal part of the case irretrievably unsolved in court.
The RCMP's refusal to identify Mr. X has once again sparked controversy in Canada regarding transparency and privacy legislations, particularly in the context of high-profile cases with multiple victims. Most Canadian citizens, legal professionals, and victims' families believe that the names of those who have been involved in terrorist activities must be released after death, particularly when there is more public interest than privacy. Although two prime suspects were acquitted in 2005 because of insufficient evidence, RCMP officials insist the case was never closed. Assistant Commissioner Teboul explained that investigators worked in the background to untangle "loose ends" , put efforts that eventually resulted in the identification of Mr. X.