Turkish authorities have raided several locations in the Beytüşşebap district of the southeastern Şırnak province and detained three people in relation to the case of a Syriac Christian couple, Mezopotamya agency reported on Sunday.

Hürmüz and Şimoni Diril went missing in January 2020, and Şimoni Diril's body was discovered by a river 70 days later. Whereabouts of her husband Hürmüz remains unknown.

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As part of an ongoing investigation, two people were detained alongside Apro Diril, who had been briefly taken into police custody, Mezopotamya said.

Apro Diril, a relative and neighbour of the couple, had spoken to news outlet Gazete Davul in March and said he had seen two men and one woman abducting the Dirils.

Apro had described the abductors as wearing the uniform associated with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an armed group that has been fighting for Kurdish autonomy for almost 40 years. "I testified as I saw things. This could have been a mistake based on their clothes," he told Gazete Davul later.

Apro told the abductors to leave the elderly couple alone, but was told his time would come too, and he would be destroyed if he spoke a word, according to his interview with the news website. He didn't go to the authorities later because he was in shock.

The man has been accused of involvement with the disappearances and death as villagers had seen him argue with the couple in the spring before they disappeared. The dispute was a minor issue over land use, Apro Diril told the website.