The police had allegedly retrieved the body of a man in handcuffs from the Klang river 19 days ago and an opposition leader claimed that this could be the remains of missing detainee G Francis Udayapan.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan) Youth chief S Manickavasagam today said party divisional leader Abdul Razak Ismail had witnessed a police team fish out the body from the river near Section 25, Shah Alam on April 18.

He said the police should reveal the identity of the deceased in order to clear the doubt.

"Why is the police silent about the discovery? Usually when the police finds a body, they will reveal it to the press," he told malaysiakini .

Recalling the incident, Abdul Razak said he and several friends had stopped at the scene when they saw a crowd gathered around the area.

"The body was decomposed, bloated and dark in complexion but the handcuffs were clearly visible," he added when contacted.

Abdul Razak said a group of them, who witnessed the incident, would lodge a report with the Shah Alam police station tomorrow to demand that the deceased's identity be made public.

No foul play

The police had claimed that Francis, who was arrested for theft, had escaped from the Brickfields district headquarters on April 16 by leaping from the first floor and jumping into the nearby Klang river.

The case received widespread media coverage after the 24-year-old detainee's family accused the police of foul play.

They claimed that if Francis was alive, his scent would have been picked up by tracker dogs and if he had drowned, his body would be caught in one of the many net barriers strung across the river.

The family alleged that Francis had died in custody and the police had disposed his body.

Following this, the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters took over the investigations and CID director Musa Hassan on Wednesday ruled out any foul play after interviewing 16 witnesses.

Musa, when contacted this evening, said the body found in Shah Alam was not Francis'.

"We have positively identified that the body in Shah Alam is not Francis ... there were no handcuffs attached to this body and we are still investigating this case," he said.

Legal action

Meanwhile, one of the family's lawyers N Surendran said the detainee's mother G Sara Lily had rejected the police findings that no foul play was involved.

"The file should still be open as long as the body is not found. The family rejects the police's version of events. We will be bringing this case up to with the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia," he added.

He also said that the family's lawyers were considering legal action against Musa for publicly claiming that the lawyers could be charged if their allegations were found to be false.

"We view his statements seriously. He should not be making such threats," he added.