DRUG-LACED SNACKS LED TO FIRING, CAR FIRM SAYS

Man Convicted Of Assassination Bid Withdrew Dismissal Suit

A Surrey man convicted in a political assassination attempt was fired
from his job for allegedly bringing to work marijuana-laced Indian
snacks that made other employees sick, according to court documents
obtained by The Vancouver Sun.

Jaspal Singh Atwal, who has approached a series of Lower Mainland MPs
for help to get a visa to go to India, filed a wrongful dismissal
suit for $10,000 against Don Carr Chevrolet related to his 2003 firing.

The suit in Surrey Provincial Court was withdrawn two months ago --
just before it was to go to trial on May 30, 2006.

In his notice of claim, Atwal states he "faithfully and diligently
performed his duties" and was fired without notice or just cause.

But the car dealership's statement of reply and counter-claim says
Atwal was let go because he and a co-worker "brought marijuana-laced
pakoras to the defendant's place of employment.

"The claimant and his co-worker then served the drug-laced pakoras to
unsuspecting employees," the document says.

"Because of adverse reactions by other employees to the
marijuana-laced pakoras, three employees were rushed to the hospital
and the entire service department was closed down for the majority of
the day, as was the parts department and the reception/switchboard department."

Surrey RCMP was called and did an investigation, but no charges were laid.

Cpl. Roger Morrow said the file was already in storage and would be
difficult to find. "I can confirm that we attended a place of
business in Surrey in February [2003] where some staffers got sick
allegedly from some food that may have been laced with a foreign
substance," Morrow said.

Atwal denied responsibility for lacing the food with marijuana,
according to the court documents.

Atwal refused to comment on the pakora issue when contacted by The
Vancouver Sun last week.

"I have nothing to talk to you," Atwal said before hanging up.

But his lawyer Todd Kerr said later that the wrongful dismissal suit
"has been settled to Mr. Atwal's satisfaction.

"The allegations that were made against him in the defence of the
action were never established," Kerr said.

Atwal remains on parole after being convicted of attempted murder in
the 1986 shooting on Vancouver Island of a visiting Indian politician.

He was found by a B.C. Supreme Court judge to have been the leader of
four members of the International Sikh Youth Federation who carried
out the failed assassination plot against Malkiat Singh Sidhu as he
travelled with relatives on a rural road near Gold River. Sidhu was
hit twice, but survived. He was later murdered in India.

When Atwal was sentenced to 20 years in jail for shooting Sidhu, the
judge called the crime "an act of terrorism in order to advance a cause."

The Sun revealed last week that North Vancouver Liberal MP Don Bell
made a call to the Indian consul general in Vancouver on behalf of
Atwal, who had his full parole revoked in 2002 after a separate
police investigation.

Bell claimed he did not know of Atwal's conviction when he called and
that he was just inquiring into the case, not advocating for a visa for Atwal.

He said Atwal, a Surrey resident, was referred to him by Vancouver
South MP Ujjal Dosanjh, whom Atwal was acquitted of beating with a
metal pipe in 1985. Dosanjh told The Sun he did not pass on details
of the high-profile assassination attempt to Bell because he assumed
Atwal would tell the whole story.