What began as a routine fishing trip turned into a horrifying experience for a local angler after he discovered the body of a man wrapped in a net and floating in Sungai Tanjung Sembrong in Parit Raja, Johor, on Monday.
Muhamad Zul Fikri Borhanodin, 33, said he initially believed the object drifting along the river was the carcass of an animal before becoming suspicious when he noticed it was entangled in a fishing net.
“I found it strange because it didn’t look normal. I kept thinking that no dead animal would be wrapped up like that,” he said when met at Kampung Tanjung Sembrong on Tuesday.
According to Zul Fikri, he and a friend had been fishing in separate boats while recording videos for personal use when he spotted the object floating with the river current during high tide.
“My boat passed about five metres from the object, and I noticed a foul smell. When I looked closer, I saw what appeared to be a human hand. That’s when I realised it wasn’t an animal carcass,” he said.
He added that one of his friends had seen the same object a day earlier but assumed it was floating rubbish or debris.
“At first glance, it didn’t look like a body. It was floating face down and had already started to decompose,” he said.
Meanwhile, Johor Deputy Police Chief Deputy Commissioner Hoo Chuan Huat said preliminary investigations have not ruled out the possibility that the case is linked to a murder, potentially connected to debt-related issues, although the motive remains under investigation.
Police have since arrested three local men, aged between 26 and 40, in the Batu Pahat area to assist with the investigation.
The suspects have been remanded for seven days until August 10, and the case is being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.
