Police officers were alerted on Friday to an object thought to be the missing arm of the decapitated body found floating in Whampoa River a day earlier.

Singapore Civil Defence Force officers were seen retrieving an object from the Geylang River near Block 63 Dakota Crescent on Friday evening.

A group of students had noticed what looked like an arm floating in the river. Fourteen-year-old Celine Tan, 14, told The Straits Times: "I saw what looked like an arm floating down the river. The crowd grew quickly and I quickly went home to alert my mother."

But it turned out to be a false alarm.

Police said they received a call at about 5.56pm on Friday about "an unknown object found in a canal along Dakota Crescent". "Police arrived and established that the unknown object was a pair of gloves and no other incriminating object was found".

On Thursday morning, the decapitated body of a woman was found at Whampoa River. The arms of the body were also said to be missing. The case has been classified as murder and investigations are ongoing.