Police inquired about sending the body of Sheku Bayoh back to Sierra Leone just days after he died in custody, it has emerged.
Despite the fact the father-of-two had lived in Scotland since he was 11 and has family here, officers called the Sierra Leone embassy in London to ask about the repatriation process.
The call was made without the knowledge of his grieving relatives, who were said to be shocked and extremely upset when they found out.
It is thought it may have been a blunder on the part of the police, who have since had no further contact with the embassy.
But the Bayoh family fear it could have been a crass attempt at removing evidence and claim it is further proof of a cover-up.
Mr Bayoh, 31, died on May 3 after being detained by police on Hayfield Road, Kirkcaldy, just a few hundred yards from his home.
Police Scotland said officers had been responding to calls about a man brandishing a knife in the street and that a female officer was seriously injured in a confrontation with Mr Bayoh.
His death has become one of Police Scotland’s most controversial cases since the single force’s inception and is being investigated by watchdog the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (Pirc).
Such is its complexity, a final report is not expected until sometime next year.
Mr Bayoh’s brother-in-law Ade Johnson, 38, told the Mail on Sunday: “It stinks to high heaven.
“Why was Police Scotland looking to send Sheku’s body out of the country without asking his family?
“How convenient that Sierra Leone is a country with Ebola and there would have been no returning the body to the UK, helping the cause of death to stay hidden. That is not the action of a police force with nothing to hide.”
Police Scotland said it could not comment on the allegations because of the ongoing Pirc inquiry.
Pirc and the Crown Office also said it would be inappropriate to comment.