Sixteen suspects were brought in for questioning by the Hillbrow police after two men were beaten and one set alight for allegedly robbing a man of his cell phone.
Hillbrow police spokesperson Sergeant Mduduzi Zondo said the incident occurred on Esselen Street on 14 January.
“The burned suspect died a few minutes after his arrival at a Johannesburg hospital and his accomplice is in a critical but stable condition,” said Zondo.
“No arrest has been made yet but we can confirm that police brought in 16 people to question them about the incident.
“The investigation is still underway and we’re certain that an arrest is imminent,” Zondo said.
The North Eastern Tribune had previously reported that the suspects had robbed a person of their handbag in full view of the community.
“We can confirm that it was, in fact, a cell phone as reported by other media houses.
“This is because at the time we were still gathering the information when we mistakenly said it was a handbag,” Zondo told the Tribune.
The police urged the community to refrain from taking the law into their own hands.
“We strongly condemn the act of mob justice and we appeal to the community to report any criminal activities to the law enforcement agencies otherwise they will be arrested.
“Taking the law into one’s own hands is a criminal offence,” he added.
