There’s confusion around the whereabouts of a man arrested on Wednesday for the attempted murder of a homeless man in Pretoria.

The 40-year-old was supposed to make his first court appearance at the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Friday, but prosecutors said he was released.

Police say he remains in custody and will appear in court on Monday.

There has been speculation that the suspect could be linked to the murder of five homeless men in the capital, but the police’s Mavela Masondo said he was never a suspect in the so-called Capital Killer case.

“In those cases no one has been arrested it’s a different case of attempted murder that’s totally different from the one of killings so that one is treated differently.”

Police have identified three of the five murdered men, but have not yet released their identities.

They’ve appealed to the public for assistance in the case and have advised the homeless in the Muckelneuk area to sleep in groups.

Source: eNCA