The only man who was convicted in the 1985 Air India bombings has been granted additional freedom, despite his refusal to identify his associates. Inderjit Singh Reyat, the man who provided bomb parts used in the notorious terror attacks, is no longer required to live in the halfway house, according to the Parole Board of Canada decision delivered late last month.
The Parole board credited Reyat for embracing an anti-violence perspective since the bombings, which ended the lives of 331 people, even though the psychologists have warned that view could disappear under the wrong circumstances.
There is no information to suggest that the cause is currently under threat, the board added.
Reyat has also demonstrated no desire to re-establish contact with his co-accused, against whom he has steadfastly refused to testify.
It is unclear where Reyat could be living, but he remains under the several other release conditions.
Despite the board’s reasons, news that Reyat has been allowed to move out of his halfway house was stunning to his victims' families and the terror experts alike.
Bal Gupta of the Air India Victims' Families Association told to CTV News that every step the bomb maker takes toward freedom reopens painful emotional wounds for him and others who lost loved ones in the attacks.
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Gupta said that he accepts the law must take its course, but he still fears Reyat will go back to his old ways, a concern echoed by the professor Andre Gerolymatos, co-director of the Simon Fraser University’s terrorism program.
The professor also argued releasing Reyat even though he has not provided useful information to law enforcement sends the wrong message to the potential terrorists.
Reyat is serving the seven-year sentence for perjury for repeatedly lying in the Air India trial. He was granted statutory release from the prison and transferred to a halfway house in January 2016, though the location was never disclosed to the public for privacy concerns.
He was previously convicted of manslaughter, possession of the restricted weapon, possession of explosives, making an explosive substance with the intent to cause an explosion, and other counts in connections with the bombings, for which he was sentenced to 15 years in the prison.
Reyat’s release conditions require that he avoid extremist propaganda and the people he has reason to believe are involved in extremism, crime or politics.
He is also barred from making any contact, directly or indirectly, with the victims' families.
Reyat has to undergo mental health counselling to address "violence, empathy and cognitive disorders” as well, and he is prohibited from possessing components that could be used to build explosive devices.
By Mrudula.
