
The man, believed to be an Ethiopian national, owns a tuckshop in the area.
Police in Mpumalanga this week arrested two people linked to the murder of a business owner who was found dead and his body dumped in a pit toilet in the Calcutta area.
The grisly discovery was made on 17 June 2019, just a day after the country had celebrated the Youth Day and Father’s Day holidays which were both on the Sunday of 16 June.
But on Monday the poor man was found dead and his body dumped in the pit toilet of the home where he operates his tuckshop.
Police now want to find out how the businessman was killed but say it was possible that he was kidnapped first before being murdered.
Each time the man closes his shop he would go to his relative, who also owns a shop in the area outside Hazyview.
But on 16 June that didn’t happen. So the relative after trying to phone him to ask about his whereabouts on that night decided to shoot straight to open a case of a missing person with the cops.
Then investigations began but the man was found dead on 17 June.
“Two suspects, Ellias Mphambo (32) and Happy Mnisi (40) have been arrested and they appeared at the Mkhuhlu Magistrates Court on Wednesday 19 June where they face murder and kidnapping charges,” police spokesman Colonel Mtsholi Bhembe said.
They remain in custody and they will be back in court on 2 July 2019.
The foreign national is one of five people who were found dead in different parts of Mpumalanga this week Monday.
They were shot, stabbed while another was burnt to death. Three of these incidents happened in eMalahleni and the other two in Calcutta.
The first man was abandoned by unknown men at a clinic after 5pm in Vosman, eMalahleni with stab wounds. He then died in front of nurses.
At around 6 in the Monday morning, a man was found lying in a pool of blood on the pavement in Vosman. He also died.
Later at night at around 11, the body of a man was found lying in a pool of blood with gunshot wounds outside the Ackerville hostel, still in the eMalahleni area.
Bhembe said the motive behind the killings was still unknown and no arrest has been made yet.
In another incident, community members found a 41-year-old man burnt beyond recognition in his shack in Calcutta on Monday.
Bhembe added that the cause of the fire was unknown but police have opened an inquest docket for investigations.
He added that police were looking for the unknown suspects linked to the murders and has appealed on anyone with information that may assist police in their investigation to contact the police on 083 519 8344, 082 469 2569 or 08600 10111.
(edited by ZK)
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