PETALING JAYA: Police have again combed through the area where the body of young autistic boy Zayn Rayyan Abdul Matiin was found, checking on dashcams in cars parked nearby and using a drone to take aerial photographs.
As investigations into the murder of the six-year-old intensified, police officers and photographers were seen entering and leaving the area near Block R of the Idaman Apartments in Damansara Damai. Block R is nearest to where the body was found in a river.
Forensic officers were also seen installing lights there. There are only four CCTV cameras in the area, with none near where the body was found.
Where children used to scurry about, laugh, play and fish, there was only quiet.
A resident who took part in the search said parents have stopped their children from playing outside and kept them home after news broke of the murder.
He said his elderly mother had also started scolding children, telling them to go home quickly.
“Before, the children would be playing all over, especially at the bridge where they would go fishing,” he said.
Yesterday, police officers were the only ones there, busy taking note of parked cars with dashcams while a police drone unit from Bukit Aman flew overhead to identify any potential hidden paths.
Petaling Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Mohamad Fakhrudin Abdul Hamid, who was at the scene, said the police have met the parents for a second time to get additional information.
Others who called in included the person who had found the body.
“Our focus is to find statements that could assist us in identifying a suspect,” he said, adding that police would continue the search here until they could find any positive leads.
“It’s not just people who stay here who know the area. Those who had previously rented here would know it well too,” he added.
The apartment has 18 blocks, with more than 2,400 units.
Nor Haizam Hidir, a representative of the apartment joint management body, said no CCTVs were installed around the apartment blocks. The four that have been installed are located at the entrance, exit, the walkway of Block J, and near the surau.
“However, there are residents who have installed their own CCTVs,” he said, adding that the area where the body was found was outside the jurisdiction of the management.
He did not know if it was government or privately owned land.
“If there are children playing there, maybe only those in Block R would know,” he said.
Selangor police chief Comm Datuk Hussein Omar Khan, in a statement yesterday, told the public to stop speculating about the case.
“This will only create unrest and affect the family members who are already grieving over the loss of a loved one. Let the police complete our investigations,” he said.