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Malaysian police have expanded an investigation into the missing plane to include ground crew, caterers and the farmers who picked four tons of mangosteens, a tropical fruit, that were in the hold.

Despite failing to find any suspicious evidence about the passengers or crew, Khalid Abu Bakar, Malaysia’s police chief, said he was confident that the case would be solved. He said police traced the mangosteens, a tangy Asian fruit with leathery skin around juicy white flesh, to an orchard in the city of Muar and examined both the farmers and the Chinese importers.

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“Imagine how many people we must interview to rule out sabotage,” he said.

“We tracked down who plucked the fruits, who packed and shipped them out, and who put them on the plane. Then, we had to see who was to receive them in China and who paid for it, and how much.”

Police have cleared the 227 passengers on board the flight, but are still investigating the 12 crew members.

Authorities believe that “someone on the plane” deliberately disabled the communications and turned the aircraft westward within an hour of taking off from Kuala Lumpur. Mr Khalid said police were examining all aspects of the flight including the caterers, who were investigated to ensure that the food served on the plane was not poisoned.

He said he had not yet received details of an FBI investigation into deleted files on a flight simulator which was seized from the home of Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the pilot.

The Daily Telegraph