A man believed to be a British spy has been found murdered in a flat near the headquarters of MI6
His body was discovered on Monday afternoon stuffed into a bag and dumped in the bath at a property in Pimlico, central London.
Scotland Yard has launched a murder investigation into the incident, led by its Homicide and Serious Crime Command.
But it has declined to comment on reports that the man, believed to be in his 30s, was an employee of the British secret services.
A spokesman said the body has not yet been formally identified.
The man's body was found at an address yards from MI6 headquarters in London
A post-mortem examination is due to take place later.
Officers were called to a top-floor apartment in Alderney Street at around 4.40pm on Monday following reports that the occupant had not been seen for some time.
They discovered the body in the bathrrom and the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Newspaper reports suggest the dead man worked for GCHQ, the Government's intelligence information arm.
But it has also been suggested that he was on secondment to MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service with a headquarters just a few hundred yards from where the body was found.
Cordons were placed around the property as officers examined the contents of the flat.
Scotland Yard says it is following up "several lines of inquiry".
If reports that the deceased man was a spy prove to be true, it will be the highest profile murder in the UK of someone linked to the secret services since that of Alexander Litvinenko.
The former KGB agent died in hospital after being poisoned by radioactive polonium-210 in 2006.