The victim, identified as Siddeeque Parambil, 39, was found in the kitchen with a knife in his hand, by a friend at about 7.45pm.

Abdul Halim Abu Bakar, 56, said he was on the way to a shop when he met some of the victims’ friends and was told that the victim had not opened the shop for some time and could not be contacted.

“I then tried to open the shop and found that the door was not locked. I went upstairs, while calling out his name, but there was no response.

“I went to the kitchen and then saw the victim’s body,” he said when met by reporters last night.

He said it was learnt that the owner of the shop had gone to India to attend a relative’s wedding and the victim was left to man the shop alone.

According to Abdul Halim, the victim’s wife and three children are in India.

A relative of the victim, Yusof Keloth, 46, said Siddeeque was from Kerala, India, and had been working at the shop for almost a year.

He said the victim had never complained of any problem.

“I have been calling him on the phone for a few days, but there was no answer. The last time I met him was last Friday (Dec 23),” he added.

The police have yet to issue a statement on the incident.