The body of a 50-year-old man was pulled from the Rochor Canal yesterday.

When The Sunday Times visited the scene at about 1pm, the body was covered by a blue police tent near the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority of Singapore building in Lavender.

Officers later carried a black body bag onto a police van parked in Crawford Street.

The Sunday Times understands that the dead man is an Indian Singaporean.

The body was discovered at a quieter part of the canal.

Police said they received a request for assistance at 10.20am yesterday.

"Upon police arrival, it was established that a body of a man was found floating in the canal," a spokesman said.

"The body was subsequently retrieved from the river and the man was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene."

Police are investigating the case as an unnatural death.

Audrey Tan