1985 Air India terrorist bombing perjury trial halted after Canadian jury dismissed

Air India terrorist bombing perjury trial halted

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The perjury trial of a man who gave key testimony at the trial of the 1985 Air India terrorist bombings that killed 331 people has been delayed because the jury has been dismissed.

Inderjit Singh Reyat is charged with lying 27 times under oath in the trial against his alleged co-conspirators in the plot.

The charges stem from Reyat’s testimony in the trial of Ajaib Singh Bagri and Ripudaman Singh Malik. They were acquitted of first-degree murder and conspiracy March 16, 2005, after a trial lasting almost two years.

Flight 182 from Montreal, Quebec, to Heathrow, London, disappeared from radar off the Irish coast June 23, 1985, when a bomb exploded killing all 329 people on board. An hour earlier, a bag destined for another Air India flight exploded at Tokyo’s Narita Airport killing two baggage handlers.

(This version CORRECTS Corrects number of victims on board plane to 329; ADDs that two baggage handlers killed in Tokyo. APNewsNow. For global distribution.)