The prosecution in the Air-India bombing trial has claimed the key witness had told police that one of the accused, Ajaib Singh Bagri, had gone to Pakistan to meet allies who were to 'commit acts of insurgency'.
But the witness, who cannot be named under a court order, countered by saying she did not even know the meaning of 'insurgency', claiming that her English language skills were not very good. She also told a psychiatrist that police were 'putting words in my mouth. I am signing documents and do not appreciate what I am signing', the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver heard on Thursday.
The court was also told that she went to a psychiatrist after a five-hour police interview in January 1997, complaining of anxiety, forgetfulness and stress. "She felt uncomfortable because she was expected to recount events 12 years ago. She claimed she had no memory of the events," the doctor wrote.
Bagri and co-defendant Ripudaman Singh Malik are accused of triggering two explosions on June 23, 1985, killing 331 people. One bomb went off on Air-India's Kanishka aircraft, which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, killing 329 people and two baggage handlers were killed at Tokyo's Narita airport in the other explosion.