Jakarta – Alfrets Mirulewan, chief editor of Pelangi Weekly in Maluku, was found dead with bruises on a large part of his body on Thursday evening.

"The body was discovered by locals on the beach of Kisar Island. There were bruises and wounds on his body," Insany Syahbarwaty, coordinator of the Maluku Media Center, was quoted as saying by news portal Detik.com.

Alfrets's body has been taken by the police to Kisar Public Health Clinic for autopsy.

Alfrets had gone missing on Tuesday, Insany said. He was conducting an investigative report on illegal gasoline businesses. "He was tailing a car which allegedly belonged to the people involved in the illegal transaction," Insany said.

The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and the Press Council are to investigate the death. "We are still checking the chronology of his whereabouts before he went missing," AJI's chairman Nezar Patria said, adding that the AJI will demand a full police investigation if evidence shows that Alfrets was murdered.

Meanwhile, the Press Council said they would hand the murder investigation over to news organization Maluku Media Center.

"We will provide assistance in any way possible, we will soon send a team to Maluku. Quick response is called for in this case," the council's deputy chairman Bambang Harymurti said.