A 20-year-old man from Steadville in Ladysmith was found dead after he had been abducted by seven men who accused him of stealing a car‚ KwaZulu-Natal police said on Wednesday.

His attackers confronted him on Saturday‚ Capt Nqobile Gwala said.

"The community came to the victim's assistance after hearing his shouts as he was being assaulted by the suspects‚" Gwala said.

"One of the suspects was apprehended by the community and gunshots were fired to scare the community while the other suspects escaped with the victim."

The 36-year-old man held by the community was taken into custody.

Gwala said police had worked around the clock to try to find the remaining six suspects who had fled with the victim.

"It was established late on Monday afternoon that the victim could have been killed and thrown into the Klip River‚" said Gwala.

Police drivers were deployed to the river where the man's body was recovered on Tuesday.

"He had several gunshot wounds and had been severely assaulted‚" said Gwala.

Gwala called on the community to stop taking the law into their own hands and asked for help in tracking down the remaining gang members.