An armed and masked gang got away with an undisclosed sum of money after holding a couple at gunpoint on the Derry-Donegal border on Thursday night.
The three-man gang forced their way into a house at Grove Cottage in Muff, Co Donegal, and held a 32-year-old man and his 28-year-old partner.
The male hostage is manager of a McDonald's takeaway at Crescent Link in the Waterside area of Derry.
The gang ordered the woman to go to the takeaway and collect a ransom in return for her partner's release.
"Acting on instructions, after the money had been given to her, she then drove to Bridgend in Co Donegal where she met another masked and armed member of the gang," said Supt Vincent O'Brien from the Garda in Buncrana.
"She handed the ransom over to him and was ordered to remain at the scene for a time.
"She was driving her partner's Ford Focus estate car, registration number UIW 111. Her own car, a yellow-green Honda, the registration letters of which are GNZ, was later found burnt out close to a bar on the Birdstown Road in Muff. Her partner was released by the gang at Elagh Road close to the Border.
"We are appealing for any information about the movements of these cars on Thursday night. This couple went through a terrifying ordeal at the hands of an armed gang.
"In terms of our investigation, we are keeping an open mind as to whether it was a criminal gang or a paramilitary-related gang."