Police say the suspect known as ‘Mr. X’ in the 1985 Air India bombing has died 

June 23, 2025

Maninder Grewal

Police in British Columbia say a suspect known as “Mr. X,” believed to have been involved in testing a bomb prior to the 1985 Air India terrorist attack, has died without ever being charged. 

The RCMP’s Pacific Region released the statement as families gather to mark the 40th anniversary of the tragedy, in which two bombs targeting Air India flights detonated—one killing 329 people, most of them Canadians. In an emailed statement, police said investigators had “uncovered information about a suspect they believe was involved in testing an explosive device prior to the June 23, 1985, Air India terrorist attack.” 

The RCMP have not released the suspect’s name, stating that there was not enough evidence to conclusively confirm the individual’s identity, who has since passed away. According to a report first published by Postmedia, the suspect is believed to have assisted in testing a bomb on Vancouver Island just weeks before the explosives were planted on two planes. 

One bomb detonated aboard Air India Flight 182 over the Atlantic Ocean, killing everyone on board. The second exploded at Tokyo’s Narita Airport before it could be loaded onto another Air India flight, killing two baggage handlers. 

RCMP Assistant Commissioner David Teboul told Postmedia that a previously unidentified suspect in the Air India bombing case—referred to as “Mr. X”—recently passed away without ever being charged. Teboul said he cannot disclose the man’s name due to privacy laws, despite the suspect being deceased. Teboul, who leads federal policing in B.C., is part of the Canadian delegation attending events to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1985 Air India bombing. He noted that even after the 2005 acquittals of two primary suspects, RCMP investigators have continued to pursue the case to “tie up loose ends and uncover further truths beyond what was presented in court.” 

This continued effort led to the identification of Mr. X, who reportedly traveled to Duncan, B.C., on June 4, 1985, with Talwinder Singh Parmar—the alleged mastermind behind the plot. The two then met with Inderjit Singh Reyat, an electrician. Parmar, the founder of the Babbar Khalsa Sikh separatist group, was killed by police in Punjab, India, in 1992 before facing charges related to the bombing. 

Reyat was convicted of manslaughter for constructing another bomb that detonated at Tokyo’s Narita Airport 54 minutes before the Air India explosion, killing two baggage handlers. He later pleaded guilty to helping Parmar and Mr. X build the bomb that destroyed Air India Flight 182 but claimed during his co-accused’s trial that he didn’t know Mr. X’s identity. He was subsequently convicted of perjury. 

The RCMP is now working with Global Affairs Canada to reach an agreement with the Indian government that would allow parts of the downed Boeing 747, recovered from the ocean, to remain in Canada for a permanent memorial or exhibit.