Kanishka case witness alleges intimidation

VANCOUVER, DEC. 1. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has warned radical Sikh groups in Pakistan and Canada to stay away from the witnesses in the Air India bombing case or face the full wrath of the law.

An Air-India Boeing 747 - Kanishka - which took off from Canada on June 23, 1985, had exploded off the Irish Coast in a terrorist act which was blamed on Punjab militants. All the 329 on board were killed. The RCMP warning came in the wake of reports that a key witness was threatened with liquidation if he testified against the two accused - Ripudaman Singh Malik and Kamloops priest Ajaib Singh Bagri.

In an interview to a local newspaper Province, the witness, who preferred to be anonymous, said he was lured to a secret place a few days back where three leaders of the extremist movement were waiting for him. They told him it was not a good idea to participate in ``something that is so vital to the interest of the Sikh cause''.

The witness claims his entire statement to the Canadian police appears to have been read by the militants. They knew what he had told the police, who he had implicated and the police detachment where he made his statement and the date.

According to him, the militants also told him that the crown (prosecution) witnesses include a man who lives in New York, two former employees of the Khalsa School in Surrey County, a lower mainland businessman, a Sikh journalist and a villager in Punjab.

- UNI

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Section  : International
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