The police are hunting for a man who was last seen with the Egyptian national found dead in a remote field in Għarb on Monday.

Sources close to the investigation said at about midnight Sunday, Walid Salah Abdel Motaleb Mohamed, 42, was seen in CCTV footage boarding a car in Victoria.

His body was found in the outskirts of Għarb a few hours later, the first murder of 2018.

Mohamed appears to have been shot from close range. He had been married to a Gozitan woman and had two children but the couple was separated.

His body was found in a pool of blood in a field close to the chapel dedicated to San Dimitri.

The sources said the police had obtained CCTV footage from outlets in Victoria. It featured Mohamed parking his car on the main road. Sometime later, he got into another car, lit a cigarette and spoke to the driver for some time before they drove away.

Mohamed had spent time behind bars after being found guilty of threatening to throw acid in his partner’s face if she sent his daughters to religion classes at school.

The sources said the victim, who worked as a plasterer, also had a pending court case over the possession and trafficking of drugs.