The PSNI is investigating the latest kidnap-robbery in Belfast in which two families were held hostage while up to £200,000 was stolen from a major city centre store.
There have been more than 40 such crimes over the past two years, many of them involving six-figure sums.
The robbery was carried out on Boots in Donegall Place just 200m from the Northern Bank which was robbed of £26.5 million (nearly €39 million) in January.
As with previous robberies, two members of the staff were ordered to go to the store on Saturday and clear out the cash while their families were held overnight.
It is understood one family lives in the south of the city, while the other is from west Belfast.
No one was injured, but family members are said to be traumatised by their experience.
The Boots employees were told to go to work as normal and to place the cash in sports bags. These were then handed over to gang members near a branch of the Alliance and Leicester Building Society a short distance away on Saturday morning.
As with the Northern Bank robbery, the thieves did not enter the premises they robbed.
There was no indication last night that paramilitaries were behind the robbery and it was reported that police officers were not viewing any possible IRA link as a major line of inquiry.
Boots reopened yesterday after PSNI forensic experts had concluded their examination.
Sammy Wilson, a Belfast councillor and East Antrim MP, claimed the operation was almost a mirror image of the Northern Bank raid which the PSNI, along with the British and Irish governments, still insists was carried out by the IRA.
"It looks like the finger is again pointing at the IRA and if that's the case, it will have very serious implications.
"It would simply reinforce what we have been saying; that they have no intention of giving up criminality.
"If there's even the slightest approach by police to put the blame on the IRA it has blown any chance of discussions about devolution involving Sinn Féin.
"That will be true for everybody, not just the DUP. Everybody will simply say: 'Shut them out and find another way'."
Belfast's SDLP deputy Lord Mayor Pat Convery said: "This was a chilling and cowardly robbery. It must be made clear that these are anything but victimless crimes. Families are traumatised and businesses damaged.
"The reputation of Belfast as a business and commercial centre is put in jeopardy after each of these incidents, and many companies may have second thoughts about locating in the city."
Boots will review its security at its store. As staff returned to work and signs that had told shoppers the shop was closed "due to unforeseen circumstances" were taken down, area manager Mary Woods said: "Our major concern is with our staff and their families and with our customers at this moment.
"Obviously we had a difficult day yesterday, but at this stage I can't really make much more comment on that because we are working closely with the PSNI who are currently carrying out an investigation. We have got to let them get on with their work."