March 16 (Bloomberg) -- Two Canadians were acquitted of carrying out the 1985 bombing of an Air India plane in the deadliest attack on an aircraft until the Sept. 11 hijackings in 2001.

The evidence against Ripudaman Singh Malik, 58, and Ajaib Singh Bagri, 55, wasn't sufficient for convictions after a 19- month trial, British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Ian Bruce Josephson said today. Key prosecution witnesses surfaced ``too late to be credible,'' CBC Newsworld quoted Josephson as saying in a Vancouver court.

The case spawned one of the largest criminal probes in Canadian history and cost at least C$100 million ($83 million) to prosecute, CBC said. Explosions aboard Air India Flight 182 killed 329 as the Boeing Co. 747 approached the Irish coast on a flight between Montreal and London. The aircraft's final destination was Mumbai.

Bagri said outside the courtroom today that he had expected to be acquitted ``because I'm innocent.''

Prosecutors alleged that Malik, of Vancouver, and Bagri, of Kamloops, British Columbia, perpetrated the crime to avenge a raid by Indian troops on the Sikh religion's holiest shrine. Malik, a millionaire businessman and a leader in the Vancouver Sikh community, and Bagri, a sawmill worker, were arrested on Oct. 27, 2000, and their trial ended in December after 233 trial days in Vancouver and testimony from 115 witnesses.

``So who did it? Who put the bombs on the planes? The public wants to know,'' said Sarwan Singh Randhawa, general secretary of the Ross Street Sikh Temple in Vancouver.

Earlier Conviction

Inderjit Singh Reyat, also charged in the bombing, is serving a five-year prison term after pleading guilty to manslaughter for his role in the attack in February 2003.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said before the arrests that an unidentified man booked reservations on two flights, one from Vancouver to Narita en route to Bangkok and Delhi, and another from Vancouver that connected to Flight 182. The Air India plane carried 82 children, CBC said.

Reyat was convicted in 1991 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for his part in making the bomb that exploded at Narita airport near Tokyo on the same day as the Air India bombing. Two baggage handlers died in the Narita explosion.

The RCMP, Canada's national police force, had as many as 20 agents working on the case and earlier established a C$1 million reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

Terrorists killed 2,993 on Sept. 11, 2001, when they hijacked four planes, flying two into the World trade Center in New York and one into the Pentagon building outside Washington. A fourth plane crashed in rural Pennsylvania.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Donville in Vancouver at cjdonville@bloomberg.net and Reg Curren in Calgary at rcurren@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 16, 2005 16:35 EST