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Fears emerged tonight that the pilot of the missing Malaysia Airlines jet may have hijacked the plane himself as an anti-government protest.

Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah was a fervent supporter of his country's opposition leader who was jailed for homosexuality - illegal in Malaysia - only hours before flight MH370 vanished with 239 passengers and crew on board, the Sunday Mirror can reveal.

And in a new twist, it emerged that the pilot's wife and three children moved out of the family's home the day before the plane's disappearance.

For all the latest on the disappearance of flight MH370 follow our live blog.

The revelations came after Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak yesterday confirmed the Boeing 777 jet was deliberately diverted from its planned route between his country's capital Kuala Lumpur and Beijing.

Investigators said trackers aboard the plane, which transmit its location to air traffic controllers, were disabled moments after take-off last Friday.

And the airliner could have flown on for seven hours after vanishing from radar over the South China Sea.

Police raided the pilot's home in the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

They spent two hours at the gated property and left carrying small bags believed to contain evidence.

They also found that the experienced pilot, who has worked for Malaysia Airlines since 1981, had built a Boeing 777 flight simulator inside.

But his friend Peter Chong insisted Capt Zaharie, 53, would be "the last person" to hijack the aircraft.

He told the Sunday Mirror: "I would trust that man with my life. He loves people and being involved in something like that would hurt people. I would not believe he was involved in any way at all. If I went on a plane and was allowed the choice of a pilot, I would choose Captain Zaharie."

Mr Chong last saw his friend a week before the jet vanished. He said the two had agreed to meet up this week and that the pilot had been "his normal, cheerful self".

But now he has become a focus of the police investigation.

On Twitter and YouTube he has backed human rights groups and campaigners for internet freedom in Malaysia, which has strict Government controls.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim called activists on to the streets and Capt Zaharie has "liked" videos by Ibrahim posted on YouTube.

Ibrahim was sentenced to five years in jail on gay sex charges on March 7, provoking widescale condemnation across the country.

The jet vanished in the early hours of the 8th.

Experts say it could have crossed up to 14 countries and landed safely in Kazakhstan or crashed into the Indian Ocean.

Mr Chong, a political secretary to a Malaysian MP, described his friend as "a very caring person who puts people ahead of himself".

He said the pilot installed a mock-up of a 777 cockpit at his home only "to share his joy of flying with friends".

Capt Zaharie posted snaps of himself with the Boeing simulator on his Facebook page, along with another showing him brandishing a meat cleaver and holding a bowl of mince.

Mr Chong said Capt Zaharie would have done everything to ensure his 227 passengers were safe in the event of a hijack.

He was angry at suggestions the pilot could have "gone rogue" and hijacked his own plane.

Mr Chong said: "I just do not believe it until there is concrete evidence to prove otherwise. What I hope has happened is that it has been hijacked (by a passenger), landed somewhere and negotiations are going on."

Investigators believe someone with flying experience took the cockpit controls and steered Flight MH370 off its planned route.

A Malaysian government official said the hijacking theory was now "conclusive".

Radar tracks show the plane climbing and descending in unusual patterns, which should have alerted air traffic controllers that something was wrong.

MH370 flew to 45,000ft - almost 2,000ft above what Boeing says is its maximum recommended height - before descending to 23,000ft.

It changed course at least twice from its scheduled route - first to fly west back towards Malaysia and then north west into one of two air lanes used by commercial planes.

A total of 57 ships, 48 aircraft and 13 nations are taking part in the air and sea search .

Loaded with maximum fuel, a Boeing 777 plane can fly for 7,725 miles.

But aviation experts said it was unlikely it would have that much in the tanks for its scheduled flight path.

If MH370 flew through other countries' airspaces it should have triggered national air defences.

Flight Global's operations and safety editor David Learmount said: "If it has flown north, why have none of the countries it has flown over

said anything?

"That's the thing that baffles me more than any other. They would have sent up aircraft to investigate. If it's gone south there's nothing there until you hit Antarctica."

Boeing 777s need a runway up to a mile long to land, making it unlikely it touched down safely on a remote Asian strip.

"I can't think which airfield it would be - and what would they do with the passengers?" said Mr Learmount.

Malaysian authorities have been criticised for keeping the possibility of a hijack secret for eight days.

Mr Learmount said their "total incompetence is unforgivable", and created more agony for families desperate for news.

Malaysian PM Razak said yesterday: "We can say with a high degree of certainty that the aircraft communications addressing and reporting system was disabled just before it reached the east coast of peninsular Malaysia.

"Shortly afterwards the aircraft's transponder was switched off.

"From this point onwards, the Royal Malaysian Air Force primary radar showed an aircraft believed to be MH370 did indeed turn back. It then flew in a westerly direction back over peninsular Malaysia before turning north west.

"These movements are consistent with deliberate action by someone on the plane."