Police in the North are hunting an armed gang that kidnapped, assaulted and robbed staff at a motor service centre.
Four members of staff at the centre on Upper Dunmurry Lane, outside Belfast, were confronted by four masked men armed with a shotgun and hand guns at 5pm yesterday.
Two of the male employees needed hospital treatment after an ordeal lasting over four hours involving as many as eight gang members. Police said the gang tied up all four members of staff and taped the eyes of two of them.
These two were driven to an unidentified location, where one was held in an outdoor shed or garage and the other taken into a house. He was threatened and repeatedly assaulted as the gang demanded to know where money was kept.
Police believe that at least one of the gang returned to the business premises and stole cash before returning to the house to make more demands for money.
Eventually the two employees were released in the grounds of a derelict house at Upper Springfield Road in West Belfast. They raised the alarm and were taken to hospital, where they received treatment.
The two employees left tied up on the business premises were not injured.