Police in Witbank, Mpumalanga are looking for a group of men who took the law into their own hands leaving three men dead and one critically injured.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Leonard Hlathi says police members were informed about four men who were kidnapped from their respective homes on Thursday and taken to a secret location where they were being held against their will.
The men were accused of hijacking taxi's in the area.
Hlathi says police immediately followed up on information and when they closed in on the victims, they received a tip-off that the men were being moved to another location at a taxi rank.
He says by the time police arrived at the new location they were informed that three of the men were already dead.
The bodies were stacked inside an office and officers were shocked to learn that one victim was still alive.
He told police how they were severely assaulted before being forced to drink acid.
Hlathi says a post-mortem will be done on the deceased to confirm or deny the allegations.
Provincial police urged communities to not take the law into their own hands.
