Vancouver, Sept 12: Prosecutors in the Air India Kanishka bombing trial said they will seek permission to declare key witness Inderjit Singh Reyat "hostile" and cross-examine him after he made contradictory statements in the court and denied any foreknowledge of the bombing plot. Reyat, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in February and sentenced to five years in prison for his role in the plane explosion, has previously served a 10-year sentence for his 1991 conviction in the Narita Airport bombing which occurred on the same day as the Kanishka aircraft exploded over the Atlantic, killing all 329 people on board. Two baggage handlers were killed at the airport.
In his testimony, Reyat told the court yesterday it never occurred to him that materials he provided for an explosive device were used in Japan until police found evidences that linked him to the purchase of the parts of the bomb, a Canadian daily reported. Reyat said Wednesday that he was approached by leader of Babbar Khalsa group Talwinder Singh Parmar in early 1985 about making an explosive device to be used in India. But he denied that he knew that the bomb would be used on flight 182 or who had put them on the plane.
However, contradicting himself, Reyat yesterday denied making an explosive device and that one of the defendants, Ripudaman Singh Malik, visited him to discuss making a bomb. The prosecution will seek permission from the judge to declare Reyat a "hostile witness", crown spokesperson Geoff Gaul said. If the judge agrees, the prosecution would be able to cross-examine the witness and confront him with contradictions in his own testimony. Bureau Report