Batu Pahat district police chief ACP Abdul Wahib Musa said the body of Adam Amin Jefri, who lived with his grandfather since birth, was discovered at 3pm, about 60 metres from the house.

He said the victim was believed to have followed his grandfather, aged 67, to pluck rambutans in front of the house.

“They went back inside around 12 noon and took a nap. The grandfather only realised that his grandson was missing after being informed about the body in the channel,” said Abdul Wahib in a statement here today.

According to him, the slow moving water in the channel next to the rambutan tree was about three feet deep.

He said the body had been sent to Hospital Sultanah Nora Ismail, near Batu Pahat, for a post-mortem with the case being classified as sudden death.