AN off-duty policeman and eight other men have been arrested after they rampaged through a Northern Province township and assaulted people they accused of perpetrating crimes in the area. Provincial police spokesman Senior Superintendent Phuti Setati on Wednesday said a youth identified as George Mabotja, (19) died in a local hospital after the assault. He said he did not know whether the nine were members of the Northern Province vigilante group, Mapogo-a-Mathamaga. Setati said the nine men drove around Mahwelereng township near Thohoyandou, knocking on doors and demanding to see “suspects”, who were then beaten up. The victims were beaten with gun butts and knobkierries. The vigilantes will appear in court on charges of murder, assault, kidnapping, and malicious damage to property.
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