A GANG of violent enforcers is terrorising Glasgow's underworld with a series of kidnappings.

Terrified victims - often linked to rival gangs or businesses - have been snatched from their homes at gunpoint by the group and tortured.

It has emerged the gang has been linked to at least three abductions, including one attack that resulted in a kneecapping.

Police Scotland's Major Investigation Team - known as the MITs - has launched an investigation into the group's actions, which are feared to be linked to a growing feud.

In one case, a senior police source told our sister newspaper the Sunday Herald, the Glasgow-based gang, which some have dubbed the Snatch Squad, were behind the abduction of a 45-year-old man from a bungalow in Yorkshire.

The victim, who is originally from the greater Glasgow area, was kidnapped and driven almost 250 miles before being kept in a safe house for two days.

Following 48 hours of physical and mental torture, he was kneecapped and dumped in East Kilbride. The source said: "The victim had lived in Glasgow but moved down south to get away. But these guys caught up with him and brought him back."

The 45-year-old was made to put on a forensic-style boiler suit, shot in both legs, and thrown down an embankment close to a busy supermarket in the Stewartfield area.

It is thought the gang abandoned their victim in plain sight of shoppers for "maximum shock value".

A week after the shooting two men, aged 39 and 31, were abducted, attacked and later dumped in Partick, Glasgow.

Senior detectives set up Operation Draken after a link was established between all three victims. They were dumped near Byres Road in front of passers-by. Police are treating the attack on the 31-year-old as attempted murder.

He was taken to hospital, suffering from injuries to his face and neck. A Police Scotland spokesman said: "Inquiries are ongoing."

Insiders say detectives are left frustrated at fearful victims' lack of co-operation.

One police source said: "How are we meant to solve these crimes and arrest the folk responsible if we face a wall of silence at every turn?"

The attacks echo the so-called "alien abduction" kidnappings, which were linked to Glasgow gangland figure Kevin "Gerbil" Carroll. He was suspected of being the ringleader of the group who earned the nickname because their victims were so traumatised they would tell police they couldn't remember what had happened. In 2010, Carroll died in a gangland execution in an Asda car park in the city's Robroyston area.

William Paterson, 35, was found guilty of the killing and jailed for 22 years at the High Court in Glasgow earlier this year.

An underworld source explained the ongoing violence, saying: "There's dozens of different groups and hundreds of different guys involved, which means there's less business to go round. Bosses can't be blamed for simply protecting their businesses."