A DNA test will be conducted to confirm if the headless corpse found in Indanan on Jolo island in southern Philippines yesterday was Bernard Then Ted Fen, said Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar.

The top cop said, until the DNA results are obtained, the police cannot confirm if the body belongs to the Malaysian citizen who was abducted in Sandakan last May 14.

He said the Royal Malaysian Police will get DNA samples from Then's family to be sent to the Philippines as soon as possible.

"We're trying to get the family's DNA to be sent to the Philippines, apart from waiting for the DNA from the body there.

"The remains are now in a hospital in Indanan," he said after the Sovereignty Medal Award ceremony here today.

Khalid said the police would cooperate with the Philippine authorities to accelerate the process of identifying the body.

"We have to wait for the official confirmation of the DNA test and I hope the public will not speculate on this matter.

"We have to understand the feelings of the victim's family," he stressed.

Then, an electrical engineer who hailed from Sarawak, was kidnapped by militant group Abu Sayyaf at the Ocean King Seafood Restaurant in Sandakan, together with the restaurant's manager Thien Nyuk Fun, 50.

While Thien had been released by the captors on Nov 8, Then had apparently suffered a different fate: the militant group's Brigadier-General Alan Arrojado had reportedly claimed that Then was beheaded at around 4pm at a remote Abu Sayyaf stronghold in Jolo island, in Sulu province.

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