The handbag was said to have contained a mobile telephone and other items.
An angry mob on Thursday morning burnt two persons in Upper Iweka, Onitsha, Anambra state for allegedly stealing a woman’s handbag.
The handbag was said to have contained a mobile telephone and other items.
The suspects were believed to be the thieves who had been terrorising the business hub and escaping on tricycles.
A source told Daily Trust that the suspects were operating with a tricycle, dispossessing their victims of their handbags when luck ran against them.
“The incident happened at Upper Iweka motor park, almost in front of Star Sunny motor park, in Onitsha. The men who were operating with a tricycle stopped and dispossessed a lady of her phone. As they went back into the tricycle about to take off, the tricycle malfunctioned and refused to start.
“They became panicky, and in the process, some boys who were calling passengers into their vehicles in the motor park quickly pounced on them and beat them up.
“Shortly after, some people brought tyres and while some others brought petrol, and they were set ablaze immediately. Their remains are still here,” the source said.
The state police command’s spokesperson, DSP Toochukwu Ikenga, who confirmed the incident, however, said two persons were burnt and not three.
He said the third person escaped.
According to him, the Anambra police operatives recovered a tricycle, handbag and an Infinix phone that was allegedly stolen from a female victim by the hoodlums operating along Owerri Road, Romchi transport park, Onitsha.
Meanwhile, police personnel are already on the ground and efforts are ongoing to apprehend the fleeing gang member, Ikenga said.