Indonesian police today arrested a top anti-corruption official over an old perjury case, an official said, sparking speculation of an interagency feud.

Bambang Widjojanto, deputy chairperson of the Corruption Eradiction Commission (KPK), is accused of pressuring witnesses when he was a defence lawyer in an election dispute case in 2010, police spokesperson Ronny Sompie said.

The move comes after the KPK last week announced it was probing the new nominee police chief Budi Gunawan over 57 billion rupiah (US$4.5 million) that he apparently received from a private company between 2005-2006, when he was head of a police human resource department.

Sompie denied there was any police vendetta against the anti-corruption agency, saying the latest arrest was “a case involving an individual and has nothing to do with institutions”.

Former deputy justice minister Denny Indrayana said arresting Bambang over the 2010 case would be “deplorable and a wrong and very dangerous move” by the police.

He also said the KPK’s case against Budi was “a personal matter and should not drag (in) the police as an institution”.

President Joko Widodo nominated Budi for the top police job, but suspended the nomination for the duration of the enquiry. Joko was elected to power in October on an anti-corruption campaign platform.

Last week, photos apparently showing KPK chairperson Abrahan Samad with the winner of the 2014 Miss Indonesia pageant circulated online, in what was widely seen as a smear campaign.

The powerful anti-graft commission has prosecuted former ministers, governors, legislators and central bank chiefs, with a conviction rate of nearly 100 percent since it was established in 2003.

Indonesia ranked 107th out of 175 countries in the 2014 corruption perception index released by Transparency International, with number one the least corrupt.

- dpa