A cross-border police investigation was continuing tonight after a 140-mile kidnap ordeal ended in a man being shot in both ankles.
The gun victim and a woman were both seriously injured when found in Derry early today, having been abducted in Westmeath the night before.
Investigating officers believe the couple taken from their rented home in Mullingar have no paramilitary connections.
Two men have been arrested in Derry in connection with the attack and are being questioned by the PSNI.
The 42-year-old male victim, originally from the North, was found beaten and shot wearing only his underwear in High Park, in the Creggan area of Derry.
The 38-year-old woman, believed to be from Dublin, was seriously assaulted and was also being treated for extensive injuries, the PSNI said.
She was wearing a white boiler suit when found at the scene in the early hours of this morning.
Garda officers sealed off a house in Newbrook Road, Mullingar, after receiving information from the PSNI about the attack at around 5am.
The couple were taken from their home by four men between 8pm and 9pm yesterday before being driven to Derry in what is thought to have been a white Ford Transit van.
Gardaí said they had ruled out robbery as a motive for the attack.