UPDATE 1-Suspect in custody in murder of founder of Gokada ride-sharing app -media reports

(Founder's personal assistant under arrest, New York Times and NBC New York report)

NEW YORK, July 17 (Reuters) - The personal assistant to Fahim Saleh, founder of the Nigerian ride-sharing app Gokada, was arrested on Friday in the murder of the 33-year-old tech entrepreneur in his Manhattan apartment, the New York Times and NBC's New York TV station reported.

Saleh's body was found dismembered and decapitated in his luxury condo on Tuesday, New York police said.

The suspect, identified as Tyrese Devon Haspil, 21, is expected to be charged in the murder, the Times and the TV station reported.

A spokesman for the New York Police Department disputed the report.

"Last I was told, we don't have anyone in custody," police spokesman Sergeant Vincent Marchese said by phone. "There is no arrest. I don't know where they're getting the information from." (Reporting by Frank McGurty Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)