The village’s development and security committee chairman Muhammad Mustaffa said the body was found by a cleaner at 7pm while he was cleaning the women’s toilets.

“After cleaning the toilet, he flushed the toilet cistern and blood-like liquid came out with a very foul smell.

“The cleaner, who thought the cistern was clogged, decided to dig it out with a stick and out came the baby’s hand, which was decomposed,” he said when met by reporters at the mosque here today.

Muhammad said the cleaner immediately called him before he rushed to the mosque and alerted the police.

Hulu Terengganu police chief Zainul Mujahidin Mat Yudin confirmed the matter and said the baby boy was believed to have died more than 24 hours before he was found.

“Further investigations are ongoing and the suspects are still being tracked down,” he said, adding that the case is being investigated under Section 318 of the Penal Code for concealing the baby’s birth and causing his death.