An inquiry into the disapppearance of a Mongolian model, who was apparently shot before her body was blown apart with explosives, was ordered by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the Malaysian Prime Minister, yesterday.

His intervention came after police held a prominent political analyst in connection with the case that has caused a sensation in the country. Abdul Razak Baginda, 46, a member of the World Economic Forum, is the fourth person to be remanded in custody in connection with the death of the 28-year-old Altantuya Shaariibuu, whose body was found on Monday. He is a member of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, a television political pundit in Malaysia, and is studying for a doctorate at Oxford.

The others held after Miss Shaariibuu’s body was found on wasteland near Shah Alam are a police chief inspector and two police lance corporals, one male and one female. Mr Badawi said he had told the inspector-general of police to “investigate the case thoroughly and properly through due process”.

It has been reported that Mr Baginda met Miss Shaariibuu in Mongolia two years ago and the two had a relationship. The girl’s father in Mongolia said he believed they were married and that Mr Baginda was the father of her baby son.

His arrest sent Malaysian society reeling. Unnamed politicians and intellectuals described him as a “good” and “affable” man to the Malaysian Star newspaper. One said that Mr Baginda had showered Miss Shaariibuu with diamonds and other jewellery and had deposited $30,000 in her bank account. They had been on holiday together to Europe and South Africa.

“The father of murdered model Altantuya Shaariibuu will come with the marriage certificate to prove that they were married. He will also bring his grandson to undergo DNA tests to prove he is Abdul Razak’s son,” Mongolia’s honorary consul, Syed Abdul Rahman Alhabshi, said.

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