Two Charged with Air India Disaster

V A N C O U V ER, Canada, Oct. 28 -- — At least five more key suspects in the Sikh terrorist conspiracy which resulted in the downing of Air India Flight 182 on June 23, 1985 are expected to be charged in the next few days, ABCNEWS has learned.

329 people died when a bomb planted in a suitcase exploded in mid-flight.

On Friday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police scooped up Kamloops, British Columbia Sikh priest Ajaib Singh Bagri, 53, and Vancouver multimillionaire Sikh fundamentalist Ripudaman Singh Malik, 51, in the 15-year-old investigation of the worst case of aviation sabotage in history.

The men were charged with 331 counts of murder — the most ever laid in Canadian criminal history — and conspiracy to kill more than 500.

The charges stem from the bombing of Air India Flight 182 at an altitude of 31,000 southwest of Cork, Ireland, which killed 329, including 22 Americans.

The same day, an attempt to sabotage Air India Flight 301 in Tokyo backfired when a bomb blew up prematurely, killing two baggage handlers.

Malik, a member of a Sikh fundamentalist group, was arrested at a private Sikh school he runs in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey.Shortly after his arrest, agitated supporters struck news cameramen, but the episode was quickly brought under control.

Bagri is a Sikh from Kamloops, British Columbia.

Both men are believed to have been allies of Burnaby Sikh Talwinder Singh Parmar, the leader of the Babbar Khalsa, a militant Sikh group founded in Canada.

ABCNEWS sources say a group of militant Sikhs suspected of participating in the bombing of Air India Flight 182, will likely be arrested by the RCMP Air Disaster Task Force in the next few days. Among them is the man suspected of making the two bombs.

Several others knowingly participated and played a peripheral role. They too may face charges, sources tell ABCNEWS.

A Matter of Timing

The decision to move against the two suspects on Friday, according to ABCNEWS sources, was made because of fears that the two men were preparing to flee. It became apparent that one man was about to board a flight for Pakistan, where Sikh terrorists have a major base.