A senior Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officer is puzzled by Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor's remarks regarding a Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) official arrested for alleged graft.

The MACC officer, who declined to be named, said Tengku Adnan’s remarks gave the impression as though the government is not protecting public interest.

"The minister’s remarks are really puzzling!" he said.

"A minister should not compromise with any breach of the law, and the statements make it appear as though public interest is being neglected," he added.

On Monday, MACC had arrested three civil servants over alleged bribery, abuse of power, and money laundering.

One of them holds the title 'Datuk Seri', while another is a 'Datuk'.

MACC investigations director Azam Baki said the suspects were arrested in a simultaneous operation in three states, namely Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, and Kelantan.

Yesterday, the commission obtained a remand order to detain the suspects until Aug 22, pending investigations under Sections 17(a) and 23 of the MACC Act 2009.

It also confiscated assets amounting to millions of ringgit.

The Datuk Seri is a senior official in DBKL, and is also being investigated under the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001.

Earlier, the New Straits Times quoted Tengku Adnan describing the Datuk Seri concerned as a "good officer" and was even promoted twice in a year.

"As far as I know, the officer is a good officer, committed to his job and attentive. He moved up from Grade 54 to Special Grade C, and he is currently Special Grade B because he is good and has potential.

"However, that is him at the workplace... what he does apart from his job, I do not know," he was quoted as saying.