AN innocent man wrongly identified as a target had petrol poured over him as he lay in bed before being taken at gunpoint from his Cork home.
The 25-year-old, who was brought to an isolated location, managed to escape his captors and run for help to a housing estate.
The incident is believed to be linked to drugs.
However, the man who endured the terrifying ordeal at the hands of balaclava-wearing enforcers was an innocent victim wrongly identified to the drugs gang, cops believe.
The man was in bed in a house rented by him and a number of other men in the upmarket Maryborough Hill area, near Douglas on Cork’s Southside.
He woke to find two men wearing balaclavas standing by his bed around 2.30am last Sunday morning.
There was a strong smell of petrol after fuel was poured over the victim and his bed as he lay asleep.
According to sources the shocked man was told he would be shot if he did not get into a car parked outside the house.
With a gun pointed at him he complied.
The car was then driven at speed to Curraheen in Bishopstown and down a roadway leading to the dog track and Cork FC grounds.
The driver hit a bollard and the car came to a stop.
All three occupants exited the vehicle and the victim decided to make a run for it as the other two surveyed the damage.
He took off in the direction of a nearby housing estate even though a gun was pointed at him and there was a threat to shoot.
A number of 999 calls were made to Cork Gardai, one from an occupant of the house from where the man was abducted and others from residents in the estate telling cops that a man was running around banging on houses and shouting for help.
Gardai were quickly at the scene and brought the victim to a Garda Station where he was seen to by a doctor, before he was transferred to hospital to have his stomach cleaned out.
The victim did not receive life-threatening injuries but he is said to be shocked and traumatised from his ordeal.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Togher Garda Station on 021 494 7120, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.
