Oglaigh na hEireann planted bomb under off-duty policeman’s car

THE PSNI’S Serious Crime Branch have arrested a 36-year-old man in connection with the attempted murder of a policeman in east Belfast.

The murder bid was carried out by Oglaigh na hEireann (ONH), the same dissident terror group who tried to kill off duty Constable Peadar Heffron.

On December 30, a police man was taking his wife and two children out for Sunday lunch when he found a bomb under his car on the Upper Newtownards Road after carrying out a routine check.

Army bomb disposal officers carried out controlled explosions at the scene.

Police said the device was “clearly intended to kill the police officer”.

On Monday, police said a man had been arrested in west Belfast for questioning about the bomb attack.

He was taken to the serious crime suite Antrim police station for questioning

Three men were arrested in the days after the attack but they were later released without charge.

As part of the investigation, detectives also issued an appeal to trace three late night revellers.

The PSNI have revealed that two women and a man took unordered taxis from Belfast city centre and were dropped in the east of the city between Saturday and Sunday.

The police officer, his wife and two young children were about to leave their Upper Newtownards Road home for lunch last Sunday when a booby trap bomb was discovered under the family car.

Police say they want to speak to the three people who travelled in a taxi on two separate occasions in the early hours of last Saturday and Sunday mornings.

A PSNI spokesman said officers want to talk to two women who got into a taxi outside Thompson’s Garage at Donegall Square East at around 2.45am on the morning of Saturday 29 December.

“After leaving a man off in Newtownards, they were eventually dropped off in the Clonduff estate at the top of the Castlereagh Road in east Belfast,” the spokesman said.

Police also want to talk to a man who got a taxi from Belfast city centre at around 2.30am on the morning of Sunday 30 December and travelled to the Manse Road/Doagh Road area of Mossley.

“Neither of these private hire taxis was ordered from a depot. They were hailed by the revellers from the street,” the spokesman added.

Detectives are appealing for these people to contact them at Ladas Drive on 0845 600 8000.