Labour MPs have called on justice minister Ard van der Steur to make a statement about claims that a vigilante group organised a ‘refugee hunt’ in Groningen province to catch a man said to have been harassing women.

The group, known as Soldiers of Odin claims to have ‘apprehended’ a young asylum seeker who was harassing women in the Groningen town of Winschoten and handed him over to the police, the Telegraaf said on Tuesday.

The group says on its Facebook page that it ‘caught’ the refugee after a ‘hunt’ of one hour. Soldiers of Odin, which originated in Finland last year, says that its role is ‘protecting our citizens and defending our streets’.

However, according to various media reports, the asylum seeker himself had been beaten up. He has admitted ‘trying to have a chat’ with several women but no-one has come forward to make a formal complaint.

The asylum seeker has also refused to press charges against whoever attacked him and has now been released, local broadcaster RTV Noord said.

A police spokeswoman told the Telegraaf that while the police are happy people want to help, ‘we must beware of vigilante justice’.

Stelt kamervragen.Dit kan en mag niet worden gebagatelliseerd. De reactie van de @Politie is bizar en onbegrijpelijk https://t.co/BQJ647QNyE

— Ahmed Marcouch مركوش (@ahmedmarcouch) July 19, 2016