The Police Ombudsman in the North has submitted two affidavits sworn by senior police officers which are at variance with Sir Ronnie Flanagan's account of the conduct of the Omagh bombing investigation.
The Irish Times understands that two assistant chief constables, Mr Alan McQuillan and Mr Sam Kincaid, have put their names to documents submitted to the High Court last Friday in connection with an appeal by the Police Association for a judicial review of the Mrs Nuala O'Loan's report on the Omagh controversy.
According to reliable sources the depositions are at odds with the former chief constable's claims concerning the bombing investigation, suggesting that some of the assertions contained in Sir Ronnie's robust reply to Mrs O'Loan's scathing report were either not accurate or were not a fair reflection or interpretation of the facts.
The affidavits question Sir Ronnie's lengthy and detailed reply to the Ombudsman's criticisms which was delivered to families of the Omagh victims in the Co Tyrone town last January.
It is not clear at this stage what precisely all the points of contradiction are between Sir Ronnie's report and the affidavits. However, The Irish Times has been told that some of the disagreements relate to the leadership of the Omagh investigation and who was really in effective charge of the case.
Sir Ronnie had insisted that Mr Brian McArthur, who had headed the case, remained in that position despite the demands of the Ombudsman and the Omagh families that he be replaced. It is claimed that another assistant chief constable, Mr Ray White, also played an influential role in the investigation.
Mrs O'Loan has claimed that the inquiry has been poorly handled by the police and she highlighted what she saw as significant failures in relation to intelligence handling and relations with the Garda. Her draft report was leaked in December. Sir Ronnie released a line-by-line reply to the Ombudsman's report, rejecting its claims, in January.