MOSCOW, Feb 17 ― Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s body is apparently not in the morgue where prison authorities said it was being kept, his team said on social media today.

Navalny’s lawyer arrived in the town of Salekhard with Navalny’s mother Lyudmila today and went to the local morgue.

"It was closed despite the prison saying that it was open and that Navalny’s body was there,” Navalny’s team said on Telegram.

The lawyer called a number for the morgue that he saw on the door and was told that "Alexei’s body is not in the morgue”, the post said.

Navalny’s supporters have called for the body to be returned to the family "immediately”.

Russia has said an investigation into the causes of his sudden death is still underway. ― AFP