Jurisdictional disputes between Canadian and US police hampered the initial investigation into the Air-India bombing case, a former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent has told the British Columbia supreme court.

The Canadian police wanted a key witness to come to British Columbia to meet one of the accused, Ajaib Singh Bagri, and wanted to conduct the meeting while he was in Canada, former FBI agent Ron Parrish said.

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However, the witness had to remain under FBI control, CBC News quoted Parrish as telling the court.

Parrish also admitted he did not tell Canadian investigators that the witness, who is a former friend of Bagri and cannot be named by court order, had already met the accused in New Jersey.

"The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) didn't ask and we didn't bring it up," Parrish was quoted as saying.

The ex-agent was called to testify in order to corroborate some of the evidence provided by the witness, who became an FBI informant in New York in 1985.

Bagri and Ripudaman Singh Malik are charged with killing 331 people in two separate bombings on the same day in June 1985. One bomb killed 329 people onboard Air-India Flight 182. The other killed two baggage handlers at Tokyo's Narita Airport.