Police in B.C. say suspect known as ‘Mr. X’ in 1985 Air India bombing is dead

Two reporters look over the remains of Air India Flight 182 on Tuesday, June 16, 2004, that were reconstructed by investigators in January 2003. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chuck Stoody

Police in British Columbia believe they have solved a decades-long mystery by identifying a suspect known as “Mr. X” who is thought to have helped test a bomb before the 1985 Air India terror attack.

But they say the suspect died before facing charges, and police will not be releasing his name.

The statement from the RCMP’s Pacific Region on Monday comes as families commemorate the 40th anniversary of the attack, when two bombs targeting Air India flights exploded, including one that killed 329 people, most of them Canadians.

Police said in an email that investigators had “uncovered information related to a suspect they believe was involved in testing an explosive device prior to the Air India terrorist attack on June 23, 1985.”

RCMP did not name the suspect, saying the evidence was not sufficient to unequivocally confirm the identification of the person.

“Investigators confirm the suspect is deceased,” the statement said.

In a later response, police said investigators “made extensive and deliberate efforts over the last several years to identify the suspect.”

A 2010 commission of inquiry report heard that Canadian Security Intelligence Service officers watched Mr. X among a group of suspects entering a forest on Vancouver Island where the bomb test was heard, a few weeks before the bombs were placed on two planes.

But the officers did not have a camera and the suspect went unidentified for decades, in a failure the report called “the nadir of ineffectiveness of CSIS pre-bombing surveillance.”

Only one person was ever convicted of involvement in the attack, bombmaker Inderjit Singh Reyat, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2003 and was later convicted of perjuring himself to protect his co-conspirators.

Two men, Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, were acquitted in 2005 after a trial that cost almost $60 million.

The trial, a 2005 federal investigation report and the commission of inquiry all concluded the attack was rooted in radical sections of the Sikh community seeking an independent homeland in India, known as Khalistan.

The identification of Mr. X was first reported by Postmedia last week, citing an interview with RCMP Asst. Commissioner David Teboul, who reportedly said the name of the suspect could not be released due to privacy laws.

A bomb on Air India Flight 182 exploded over the Atlantic Ocean, killing everyone on board, while a second suitcase bomb exploded before being transferred onto an Air India jet, killing two baggage handlers in Tokyo’s Narita Airport.

In a statement, Prime Minister Mark Carney said the tragedy is one that Canadians “must never forget.”

“As we mark the National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism, we remember the victims of the Air India bombing and all others who have lost their lives to terrorism,” Carney said.

“Canada’s new government unequivocally stands against terrorism, and we will deliver on our mandate of change to keep communities safe.”

B.C. Premier David Eby said in a separate statement that the province “must stand against the hate, intolerance and division that fuel terrorism,” and his government was renewing its resolve “to create a safer society for everyone in honour of those we have lost.”

“They were entire families, businesspeople and students with their whole lives ahead of them,” Eby said. “Tragically, they became victims of the deadliest terrorist attack in Canadian history when a bomb exploded onboard their flight.

“We mourn with the loved ones left behind and condemn such senseless acts of violent extremism.”

Ceremonies marking the National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism were taking place Monday in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and County Cork, Ireland.

The RCMP said officers would attend the memorial in Ahakista, Ireland, which is near where Flight 182 went down.

Retired RCMP Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass led the police investigation in 1995 and has been attending the memorial in Ireland every year since 1997.

In a statement issued through the RCMP, Bass said every law enforcement officer and prosecutor who worked on the case “gave their all over many years,” adding that the tragedy remains etched in his memory.

“Well, you think about it all the time, of course,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if it is a single homicide or in this case 331 who were killed, it is a type of investigation you never give up on, and you always try to see if there’s something else that can be done.”

Former B.C. legislator Dave S. Hayer said in a statement on Facebook that the 40th anniversary of the attack is a reminder that “terrorism has no place in a civilized world an that it must be stamped out at all costs.”

“Sadly, only one person has been convicted of the bombing that killed 331 civilians, even though known terrorists who were responsible for these bombs were being watched and tape-recorded by Canadian law enforcement agencies before the bombing,” said Hayer, who spoke often in the provincial legislature about the attack during his 12 years in office.

In 2022, acquitted suspect Malik was killed in B.C. by two hit men who received life sentences. Their motives have never been revealed by police or prosecutors.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2025

Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press