Kuala Lumpur deputy police chief Usuf Jan Mohamad said identifying the suspects believed to be behind her abduction had been challenging, as the vehicle used was fitted with a fake registration plate and had a mismatched chassis number.

“We’ve already taken a statement from the actual owner of the car, and he is not the suspect,” he was quoted as saying by Harian Metro after an event at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters.

He added that the facial composite of the suspects was only about 40% accurate.

Police are currently gathering evidence from the crime scene and pursuing various leads, including through reviews of closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage.

Ling, 42, was reported missing on April 9 while on her way to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters in Putrajaya in an e-hailing vehicle. A police report was lodged at 3.02pm the same day.

Last month, lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo said one of the vehicles seen in CCTV footage of Ling’s alleged abduction was spotted near the Thai border. However, she said there had been no updates provided by the police regarding forensic testing of the items found in the car.

Police previously revealed that five vehicles were involved in the incident, three of which had used cloned number plates.

About eight suspects are believed to have been involved in the alleged kidnapping, two of whom were seen in CCTV footage wearing police vests.

On May 15, Kuala Lumpur police chief Rusdi Isa said that Ling’s husband, Sarawakian businessman Hah Tiing Siu, had been arrested to assist in an investigation, but did not disclose the nature of the probe.

MACC chief Azam Baki previously said that Ling was a witness in a money laundering investigation.