Sikh man gets five-year jail sentence for Air India blast

A SIKH man who acquired the materials for a bomb that killed 329 people aboard an Air India flight in 1985 was sentenced to five years in prison yesterday.

Inderjit Singh Reyat, aged 51, is one of three suspects charged in what is considered Canada's worst mass murder.

Two other Sikh suspects still face first-degree murder and conspiracy charges.

Originally charged with one count of first-degree murder, Reyat pleaded guilty to a single manslaughter charge representing all the victims.

Air India Flight 182 from Montreal to New Delhi exploded 110 miles south of the Cork coast on June 23, 1985.

An hour earlier, a bomb in baggage intended for another Air India flight exploded in Tokyo's Narita Airport. Reyat, who holds British and Canadian citizenship, already served 10 years in a British prison for manslaughter in the Tokyo blast.

The Air India disaster triggered the largest ever rescue mission off the Irish coast.

The Navy and emergency services recovered 133 bodies from the sea. Investigators suspect Sikh militants of the bombings in revenge for India's 1984 raid on the seat of faith for India's Sikh minority.

In Washington, the Sikh community condemned the bombing and said it feared it would lead to violence against Sikhs.

Noting that Reyat has been held since his arrest in 1988, prosecutor Robert Wright recommended the five-year sentence.

The court said Reyat was guilty of aiding and abetting in the making of the bomb but that he lacked any knowledge of who put the explosive device on the airplane.

Reyat's plea raised speculation he would testify against the other suspects Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri in a trial due to begin March 31