Canada frees Air India bomber, Sikh terrorist who killed 331 people in 1985 attacks

The only person convicted in the 1985 Air India bombings that killed 331 people is now free, Canada’s parole board said Wednesday.

Inderjit Singh Reyat had been ordered to live at a halfway house following his release from prison one year ago, after serving two decades behind bars.

That condition has now been lifted and Reyat may return to a normal life, including “living in a private residence,” parole board spokesman Patrick Storey said in an email.

The onetime Sikh extremist, an immigrant from India, was convicted of making bombs that were stuffed into luggage and planted on two planes leaving Vancouver, and of lying in court to cover for his co-accused.

One bomb tore apart Air India Flight 182 as it neared the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 people aboard, including entire families. It was the deadliest case of aviation terrorism prior to the September 11, 2001, attacks.

The second exploded on the ground at Japan’s Narita airport, killing two baggage handlers as they transferred cargo to another Air India plane.