The PSNI have condemned an incident in Omagh, Co Tyrone, last night in which a man was hijacked at gunpoint and forced to drive a suspicious package to the police station.
At around 10pm last night, it was reported that a man was hijacked by three masked men at gunpoint in the Fireagh Road area, off the Dromore Road in Omagh.
The masked men placed a suspicious object in his vehicle - a silver-coloured Volkswagen Golf - and forced him to travel to the Derry Road area and abandon the car outside Omagh Police Station.
The PSNI implemented a public safety operation, with a number of people evacuated from their homes and cordons established.
Ammunition Technical Officers examined the object and it has since been removed from the scene.
It will be subject to further examination to establish its viability.
Condemning the incident, Inspector Will Brown said: "The misguided and senseless actions of those responsible have caused disruption in the local community.
"Our thoughts are with the driver, who was, understandably, badly shaken by the ordeal."
St Mary's Church in Drumragh, outside Omagh, was sealed off this morning as officers searched the grounds.
Father Eugene Hasson from St Mary's said it was "deeply frustrating" that the incident had happened.
He cancelled mass in St Mary's this morning as worshippers were not able to access the church.
Investigations into the incident are continuing and Insp Brown has appealed to the public to contact them if they saw anything suspicious in the area.
