TWO Canadian Sikhs pleaded not guilty yesterday to causing an explosion that ripped apart a jumbo jet 18 years ago, killing all 329 passengers flying from Montreal to London. The pair are accused of planting a bomb aboard Air India Flight 182 in June 1985 and a second one in luggage, which exploded at Narita airport, Tokyo, killing two baggage-handlers. Prosecutors believe that the bombings were an act of revenge against the Indian Government for an assault by troops in June 1984 on the Sikhs’ most holy shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar. It had been occupied by Sikh separatists. Hundreds of Sikhs were killed during that attack. The bomb aboard Flight 182 exploded as the aircraft approached Cork, Ireland, killing more people than the terrorist attack on Pan Am Flight 103, which blew up over Lockerbie in December 1988, killing all 259 passengers and 11 on the ground. Most of those on Flight 182 were Indian-Canadians going to India to visit their families. More than 60 of the victims were under the age of 11. The aircraft crashed into the Atlantic and many of the bodies were never recovered. Full Story
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