“The components comprised cloth, diesel, wires, batteries and firecrackers. When found, it (the device) was switched off, and needed to be physically switched on to detonate.

“I am confident that the suspect has knowledge of manufacturing explosives,” Utusan Malaysia reported Shuhaily as saying at a press conference at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters.

He said the investigation was still ongoing, adding that 13 people have been interviewed so far, including Siti, her friends, her mechanic and the security guards at her residence.

“We will call up whoever we feel is a witness and had access to her vehicle. We are examining all closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the route Siti travelled and are still looking for clues,” he said.

On July 21, Siti said she was alerted to two suspicious objects underneath her car after she took it to a Kuala Lumpur workshop for a routine service.

She posted a video on Facebook of what looked like plastic water bottles that were attached to the suspension of her car saying: “It looks like a bomb”. The bomb squad was dispatched soon after.

Last Monday, Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain said the device was planted with the intent to murder the lawyer-activist.