Sikh militant group Babbar Khalsa: Air India Flight 182

[BulletProofYogi]

Air India Flight 182 was an Air India flight operating on the Toronto–Montreal–London–Delhi route. On 23 June 1985, the Boeing 747-237B serving the flight (c/n 21473/330, registration VT-EFO, Emperor Kanishka) disintegrated in midair, at an altitude of 31,000 feet (9,400 m), as a result of the explosion from a bomb planted by Canadian Sikh terrorists.

The remnants of the airliner and all aboard fell into the Atlantic Ocean approximately 120 miles (190 km) West-Southwest of the southwest tip of Ireland, killing all aboard. A total of 329 people were killed, including 268 Canadian citizens, 27 British citizens and 24 Indian citizens.

The bombing of Air India Flight 182 is the largest mass killing in Canadian history, and was also the world's most destructive act of aviation terrorism until 9/11.
The bombing of this flight occurred at the same time as the Narita Airport bombing; investigators believe that the two plots were linked, and that those responsible were aiming for a double bombing. However, the bomb at Narita exploded before it could be loaded onto the plane.

Canadian law enforcement determined the main suspects in the bombing were members of the Sikh militant group Babbar Khalsa. The attack is thought to have been in retaliation to the Indian government's Operation Blue Star in which the Indian Army entered the Golden Temple in Amritsar to remove occupying Sikh militants. Although a handful of members were arrested and tried for the Air India bombing, the only person convicted was Inderjit Singh Reyat, a Canadian national and a member of the ISYF, who pleaded guilty in 2003 to manslaughter.

He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for assembling the bombs that exploded on board Air India Flight 182 and at Narita.

The subsequent investigation and prosecution lasted almost twenty years. This was the most expensive trial in Canadian history, costing nearly C$130 million. The Governor General-in-Council in 2006 appointed the former Supreme Court Justice John C. Major to conduct a commission of inquiry. His report, which was completed and released on 17 June 2010, concluded that a "cascading series of errors" by the Government of Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) had allowed the terrorist attack to take place.