Vancouver: An alleged member of the inner circle of conspirators in the Air India bombing case suffered a heart attack just before he was to testify for the defence at the international terrorism trial.

Defence Lawyer Bill Smart told the British Columbia court yesterday (June 1, 2004) that Daljit Singh Sandhu was in hospital after suffering a heart attack over the weekend.

"I don't know if he can testify, much less when," Smart was quoted as saying by the 'Globe and Mail'.

According to the prosecution, Sandhu was the person who picked up the tickets used to load the bombs on the aircraft. He has been linked to the bombing on three occasions during the trial.

A total of 329 people were killed in the 1985 mid-air bombing of the Air India jet off the coast of Ireland.