There is evidence of “cannibalism” in the murder of a 44-year-old man whose remains were found in Berlin earlier this month, prosecutors have said.

A 41-year-old man was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of murder with sexual motives.

He was detained at his home close to the site where the victim’s bones were found, on the northern edge of the capital.

Martin Steltner, a spokesman for the Berlin prosecutors office, said: “The suspect had an interest in cannibalism. He searched online for the topic.”

Mr Steltner said it was unclear whether the victim had also had an interest in cannibalism. The two men, both Germans, had been in touch with each other online, he said. Neither of their names were released for privacy reasons.

In 2006, a German court convicted Armin Meiwes of murder and disturbing the peace for killing a man he had met online and eating him. Meiwes is currently serving a life sentence.

In 2015, a German police officer was convicted of murder for killing a man he met in an internet chat forum devoted to cannibalism. Prosecutors said the victim had fantasised about being eaten but there was no evidence that the suspect actually did so.