Detectives were continuing to question a man at Antrim PSNI station last night after the dismembered body of a 34-year-old south Belfast man was found in a wheelie bin at a block of flats.
The 42-year-old man was arrested after the body was discovered on Monday evening. Police arrived at the scene at an apartment block at Pottinger House in the Mount area of east Belfast, close to the city centre, after they were alerted by people living in the flats.
The man was arrested shortly after the body was found in the bin in the courtyard of the complex.
Police named the victim last night as William David McClatchey of Taughmonagh in Belfast.
A post-mortem examination has been carried out, but police said they were not making the results public.
Initially, police had not been in a position even to say whether the victim was male or female.
The area around the death scene was cordoned off yesterday as forensic experts carried out a detailed examination.
People living in the area were also being questioned to determine if they could assist the police establish the circumstances behind the man's gruesome death.
Local DUP Assembly member Robin Newtown said the body parts were placed in plastic bags and dumped in a wheelie bin.
He understood that others living in the apartment block were alarmed by noises emanating from the flat, which he believed were the sounds of the body being dismembered.
Mr Newton said local people were "horrified" by the discovery.
"This is a close-knit community around the Mount area and there would be a lot of concern that someone who was prepared to carry out such violence would be living in the community."
Mr Newton said he suspected that more than one person was involved in the dismemberment. "I don't believe just one person could do what happened in the flat," he said.
Police sources said they had no information at this stage as to whether the victim was killed as a result of paramilitary activity.