POLICE have launched a manhunt for four suspects after the discovery of a body next to the railway line at Umlazi in Durban yesterday.

The dead man, who has not been named, is the brother of a police officer based at the local policestation.

The police said the man was kidnapped in an apparent road rage incident on Sunday and the car in which he was a passenger hijacked.

His body was found by residents using the footpath near the Mxenge Hall. The body was almost naked, and it was wearing only a pair of underpants.

Police spokesperson Captain Thulani Zwane confirmed that the man was the brother to a policeman.

"The victim was with three other men in a Toyota Tazz which was stopped by four men in a Volkswagen Fox in Folweni.

"The men in the VW Fox approached the driver of the Tazz and asked him why he was driving recklessly.

"An argument ensued and the driver of the Tazz was stabbed in the neck and back, but managed to escape with two of his passengers, leaving his car behind," Zwane said.

"The victim, who was the third passenger, was taken hostage by the occupants of the VW," said Zwane.

He said police recovered the Tazz at Umlazi's Z section yesterday.

Zwane said the police were investigating a case of murder, kidnapping andhijacking.