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One Kanishka bombing suspect released

The man was released on Monday, less than 24 hours after being arrested, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said. Police would not reveal his identity or say why they declined to charge him.

The Vancouver Sun newspaper identified the man as prominent Sikh separatist leader Hardial Singh Johal.

The two others arrested on Friday made their first appearance on Monday in a British Columbia provincial court.

Judge Jane Godfrey ordered Ripudaman Singh Malik, 53, and Ajaib Singh Bagri, 51, jailed until their next court appearance scheduled for November 30.

Malik, a Vancouver businessman, and Bagri, a sawmill worker, are charged with eight counts, including first-degree murder, in the Air India Flight 182 disaster off the coast of Ireland on June 23, 1985, in which 329 people died, mostly Canadians.

The charges also include the attempted sabotage of another Air India flight headed for Bangkok. A bomb, in baggage, was to be loaded on that flight, but prematurely exploded in Tokyo's Narita airport, killing two baggage handlers.

The arrests came at the end of a 15-year investigation by the RCMP into the largest mass-murder case in Canadian history and one of the worst recorded incidents of air terrorism.

In February 1997, investigators searched the homes of Johal, Malik and Bagri, according to court documents.

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