The investigative team looking into the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has discovered traces of hydrofluoric acid and other chemicals inside a well at the Saudi consul general's home in Istanbul, Al Jazeera reports citing a source in the Turkish attorney general’s office.
"It would appear, according to the source that during that two week period, acid was used to dispose of the dismembered body of Jamal Khashoggi," Al Jazeera’s Andrew Simmons said, adding that the residence was searched by Turkish investigators two weeks after the killing.
Earlier, US whistleblower Edward Snowden also accused the Israel cyber intelligence firm NSO Group Technologies of "selling a digital burglary tool" which he claimed had been used to track Khashoggi.
Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor, disappeared on October 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where he had arrived to obtain the necessary papers for his upcoming wedding.
READ MORE: Snowden Claims Israeli Software Was Used to Track Khashoggi
According to Turkish public prosecutor Irfan Fidan, Khashoggi was "strangled as soon as he entered the consulate" in sync with "premeditated plans" and that his body was "subsequently destroyed by being dismembered, once again confirming the planning of the murder."
After more than two weeks of denials, Saudi Arabia acknowledged that the journalist had been killed in a fight inside the consulate. Riyadh said that 18 people had been arrested due to their suspected involvement in the incident, and that they would be put on trial in Saudi Arabia.
