The man, believed to have been working for MI6, had been missing for 10 days

This article is more than 10 years old

This article is more than 10 years old

Police were last night investigating the murder of a man whose body was found stuffed in a sports bag in the bath of his London flat.

The man, who was in his early 30s, is believed to have worked for the government's intelligence agencies. An unconfirmed report suggested he had worked at GCHQ, the government's secret listening service, and had been on secondment to MI6, the secret intelligence service, when he disappeared up to 10 days ago.

Police found his body on Monday afternoon when they were called to his flat in Pimlico following reports that he had not been seen for some time. Inside the property, officers found the man's mobile phone and collection of sim cards laid out, the Daily Mail reported.

The five storey townhouse is just a mile from MI6 headquarters, fuelling speculation that the man was working there before his death. But a police source stressed that he had not been formally identified, and that while the man's employment documentation suggested he had indeed worked for the secret service, "he might have been an air conditioning technician rather than a spy".

"If he really was a spy, you imagine someone would have reported him missing rather sooner," the source added.

Last night Scotland Yard launched a murder inquiry, with the homicide and serious crime command working in conjunction with counterterrorist and security service officials.

The street remained cordoned off as forensic teams searched the property and surrounding areas for clues as to how and why the man was killed.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan police said: "Detectives are investigating a suspicious death following the discovery of the body of a man in a central London flat. At around 1640hrs on Monday 23 August, officers attended the flat on the top floor of a property in Alderney Street, Westminster, following reports that the occupant had not been seen for some time.

"Officers gained entry and found the body of the man, believed to be aged in his 30s. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers are yet to identify the deceased."

A postmortem examination will be held this morning.

No arrests have been made.