Former inspector-general of police Musa Hassan said the country's top cop can only approve the transfer of police officers below the rank of assistant superintendent and positions above that must receive approval from the Police Force Commission.

He commenting on the abrupt transfer of former police Special Branch deputy director Abdul Hamid Bador, who holds the rank of deputy commissioner of police, according to Sinar Harian.

"The transfer of officers that must receive approval from the commission are those with the rank assistant superintendent and above.

"If it is below that, it is within the inspector-general's powers (to approve the transfer)," Musa is quoted as saying.

Musa said as long as he had known Abdul Hamid ( photo ), the man was known to be a good, hardworking and trustworthy police officer.

Abdul Hamid claimed that his abrupt transfer to the Prime Minister's Department after serving over 30 years in the police force was carried out by "hidden hands", due to his insistence for a thorough investigation into 1MDB.

However, Musa declined to comment about the alleged interference, citing that he was no longer with the police force and was not aware of its internal developments.

Yesterday, former inspector-general of police Rahim Noor had described the transfer as "very worrying".

Earlier this month, two senior Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) officers, one of whom was the lead investigator looking into deposits of RM2.6 billion into Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's personal bank accounts, were also transferred.

However the MACC transfers were aborted after a public uproar.

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