Canada parole board frees Air India bomber

Inderjit Singh Reyat, the only person convicted in the 1985 Air India bombing, has been released from a halfway house and is now free to live where he chooses, according to a new decision from the Parole Board of Canada.

Parole board spokesman Patrick Storey said that Reyat's parole officer assessed those with whom he will live "to ensure they will not have a negative influence on him."

The parole board's notes said, "Your case management team reports that since your release to the community, you have been abiding by all the conditions of your release. There has been no evidence of communication with any negative associates who may hold extremist views or be involved to political activity. There have been no police concerns since your release. And the High Risk Target Team is supportive of the removal of your residency condition. You have been participating in ongoing counselling to address cognitive distortions and violent behaviour. You have been described as higly accountable for your activities and your whereabouts." (Read the full document HERE)

Reyat had been serving a seven-year sentence after being convicted of perjury in 2010 for repeatedly lying during his testimony at a trial into the bombing deaths of 331 people. The parole board said that resulted in his co-accused not being convicted in Canada's worst mass murder.

In January 2016, Reyat was given statutory release after serving two-thirds of his sentence and was expected to be closely monitored at a halfway house at an undisclosed location for another 18 months.

Reyat was convicted of making bombs that were stuffed into luggage and planted on two planes leaving Vancouver.

One bomb tore apart Air India Flight 182 as it neared the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 people aboard, including entire families.

The second exploded at Japan’s Narita airport, killing two baggage handlers as they transferred cargo to another Air India plane.

The blasts followed a crackdown on Sikhs fighting for an independent homeland, and those behind it were allegedly seeking revenge for the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar by Indian troops.