Malaysian police on March 15 searched the house of Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the 53-year-old captain of missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH 370, in a hope of finding evidence to aid the ongoing investigation into the fate and whereabouts of the aircraft.

The search was conducted after Malaysian authorities decided to focus their investigation on the crew and passengers on board the flight.

A senior Malaysian military official said the country’s authorities believe the plane was piloted away from its scheduled route by a skilled flyer who knew all the radar viewpoints and deliberately shifted the direction of the Boeing 777-200, which had 239 people on board, towards the Indian Ocean.

The official added that the supposition was based on previously uncorroborated data collected by military radars which continued marking the position of the jetliner several hours after civilian radar contact was lost in the early hours of March 8.

Earlier on March 15, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said there was no conclusive evidence to confirm that the missing jet had been hijacked.-VNA