Upset passenger helped Kanishka bombers: Official

The bomb that allegedly destroyed Air India Flight 182 in 1985 might never have been loaded had it not been for a belligerent passenger at a...

The bomb that allegedly destroyed Air India Flight 182 in 1985 might never have been loaded had it not been for a belligerent passenger at a busy airport, a Canadian court heard on Monday. Speaking at the trial of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, the two accused of plotting to destroy the aircraft, ticket agent Jeanne Bakermans testified about an argument she had with a man, still not identified, who insisted his luggage be checked through the flight even though his seat had not been confirmed.

Police believe the man’s suitcase contained the explosives that destroyed the Air India Boeing 747 off the coast of Ireland on June 23, 1985, killing all 329 people on board. Malik, a 56-yr-old Vancouver businessman and Bagri, 53, a mill worker from Kamloops, British Columbia, have pleaded not guilty to murder in a trial that started last month and is expected to last into 2004.

Prosecutors allege they were part of a plot by a group of Vancouver-based Sikh extremists to destroy Flight 182 and a second Air India aircraft. The second bomb exploded in Tokyo’s Narita airport, killing two airport workers, 54 minutes before Flight 182 went down.

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Police believe the bombers bought one-way tickets in Vancouver on flights that connected with Air India and used them to load bomb-laden luggage without boarding the aircraft. The tickets were allegedly bought in cash by men using the names M. Singh and L. Singh. The identities of the men remain a mystery.

Bakermans said M. Singh was upset when she refused to transfer his suitcase to Flight 182, but she gave in because the airport was very busy and his ticket was for an expensive business-class seat. Records show Bakermans also checked in L. Singh’s luggage, but she said she had no memory of that transaction. Bakermans told the court she did not remember asking M. Singh for identification or if she gave L. Singh’s passport a careful review. ‘‘Security was different then,’’ she said. (Reuters)

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