“We seized the phones to facilitate the investigation,” Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan told FMT.

Hussein said the confiscation of the devices were in accordance with the standard operating procedures in carrying out such an investigation. However, he could not divulge further information on the matter.

Police arrested the boy’s parents on Friday and they were remanded for seven days to assist in the investigation, which is being conducted under the Penal Code for murder.

In March, Hussein had said that police looked at various angles, including technical aspects, to find Zayn. The investigation included the use of internet protocol addresses of devices detected as being at the location where the body was found. Fingerprints and DNA samples were also sent to Interpol.

Zayn was reported missing on Dec 5 last year, resulting in a massive search operations in the vicinity of his home at Apartment Idaman in Damansara Damai. His body was discovered near a stream about 200m away the next day.

Autopsy results revealed signs of self-defence wounds, while the cause of death was from injuries to the neck believed to be caused by strangulation.

Police have recorded the statements of more than 200 people in connection with the case.