Canada to release 1985 Air India ‘Kanishka’ massacre inquiry report in June

VANCOUVER - The Canadian Government’s Commission of Inquiry into the 1985 Air India Kanishka bombing will release its final report in June, just in time for the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attack that killed 329 people.

According to reports, a federal tender for printing the commission’s report has been issued, indicating that it will be printed by June 4.

The commission was launched in 2006, and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper had appointed former Supreme Court Justice John Major as the commission’s chairman.

Justice Major spent nearly two years hearing from more than 200 witnesses and reviewing 17,000 classified documents.

According to the tender document, over 3,000 copies of the report will be printed, and it will consist of five volumes spanning more than 3,100 pages in total.

The commission also plans to publish four volumes of “research papers,” totaling 1,300 pages.

Expressing disappointment at the time taken by the commission, Bal Gupta, a Toronto-area resident whose wife died in the disaster, said the report should have been released long before the 25th anniversary.

“It has been quite frustrating. We are hoping for the best, but let’s wait and see,” The Globe and Mail quoted Gupta, as saying.

The bombing occurred on June 23, 1985, as Air India flight 182 was over the Atlantic Ocean en route from Montreal to London and New Delhi.

While some passengers survived the initial explosion and subsequent decompression, none survived the impact. In all, 329 people perished, among them 280 Canadian nationals, mostly of Indian birth or descent, and 22 Indians.

The only person convicted of involvement in the bombing was Inderjit Singh Reyat, who pleaded guilty in 2003 to manslaughter in constructing the bomb used on the flight, and received a five-year sentence. He was refused parole in July 2007.

Two others, Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, were acquitted in 2005 on murder charges related to the bombing. (ANI)