A man originally believed to be involved in the Air India bombings was ruled out as a suspect after he was interviewed in 1992 by Canadian authorities in Mumbai, an RCMP officer testified Tuesday at the public inquiry.

RCMP Insp. Jim Cunningham testifies Tuesday at the Air India Inquiry in Ottawa.
(Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

Insp. Jim Cunningham said authorities went to interview Lal Singh, who was also known as Manjit Singh, after being advised of his arrest in India in August 1992 on terrorism charges unrelated to the bombings.

"He remained steadfast that he was not involved in the Air India bombing and would welcome the opportunity to return to Canada to prove his innocence," Cunningham told the inquiry.

There has been speculation for years that Singh might have been one of the couriers who delivered bomb-laden suitcases in the attack that killed 329 people in June 1985.

There had also been media reports that Singh allegedly confessed to his involvement in the bombings to Indian authorities after he was arrested.

But Cunningham said that Indian police officials denied those reports, and that after Canadian officials interviewed Singh in India, they were were left with no more information that could lead to his prosecution.

A ticket clerk at Vancouver International Airport, where Singh was suspected of checking-in the bomb-laden bags, was also flown to India. But Cunningham said she could not identify Singh after seeing him in a police lineup.

Cunningham told the inquiry that he "did not feel personally that he was involved, from my dealings with him."

Cunningham added that he felt Singh had nothing to lose by admitting that he was involved in the Air India plot. He said that because of the seriousness of the charges Singh was facing in India, he might have faced greater penalties in India than in Canada for any role in the Air India plot.

Following his arrest, Singh had tried to bite off his tongue and had attempted to kill himself by swallowing a cyanide pill and hitting his head against the wall in his cell.

Cunningham suggested that Singh attempted suicide because, as a high-ranking official in a militant organization, he was privy to information about militant activities in the Punjab area of India. He said these groups were known to carry cyanide tablets in the event of capture.

Singh was also wanted by U.S. authorities for his involvement with a New York group that had plotted the assassination of an Indian cabinet minister in New Orleans.

He went into hiding after the Air India attack and lived underground in Canada for three years before slipping out of the country. His 1992 arrest in India led to a conviction for terrorist activities in the Punjab region, and he remains in prison there.

With files from the Canadian Press