VANCOUVER A judge reserved his ruling on Tuesday on a bail request for the two men charged with the 1985 bombing of an Air India jet that killed 329 people in history's deadliest act of civilian aviation sabotage.

British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Patrick Dohm will review evidence from 4-1/2 days of hearings on the request by Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri to be released pending what is expected to be a long trial.

There was no indication on when Dohm would rule.

Bagri, 51, and Malik, 53, have been in jail since their arrest on October 27 for their alleged roles in the bombing that destroyed India-bound Flight 182 over the Atlantic and a related bombing hours earlier in Tokyo's Narita Airport.

Police believe the bombings were the work of Sikh religious extremists seeking revenge for the Indian Army's bloody 1984 storming of the Golden Temple -- Sikhism's holiest shrine -- and part of a broader effort to achieve an independent Sikh homeland in India's Punjab State.

Bagri is also charged with the attempted murder in 1988 of Indo-Canadian newspaper publisher Tara Singh Hayer, who is believed to have uncovered key evidence about the bombing plot.

A court-ordered publication ban prohibited the media from reporting details of evidence and arguments in the bail hearing, although the public was allowed to attend. The court was crowded on Tuesday -- many the people in attendance were supporters of Malik and Bagri.

The ban is also expected to bar the media from reporting the reasons given Dohm when he makes his ruling.

Canada is leading the criminal probe because Flight 182 originated in Canada and the bombs were believed to have been built in the Vancouver area, which has the largest Sikh community outside of India.

Hayer's son, David Hayer, who now publishes his father's ****Indo Canadian Times**** newspaper, said he remained confident police had collected the evidence needed to convict those responsible for the bombings and the 1988 attempt on his father's life.

"Without saying too much about what was discussed in the hearings, all the victims' families are relieved that this is going through the courts," Hayer said.

The Royal Canadian mounted police said when Malik and Bagri were arrested that they expected additional people to be charged, but that has not yet happened.

Police have said over the years that at least five people were directly involved in the bomb plot. All are thought to be from Canada, but one is now dead and another has apparently fled to Pakistan, India or Britain.

(Reuter)