Papua New Guinea’s prime minister says he will ask the police commissioner to investigate the head of the axed anti-corruption taskforce Sam Koim and opposition MP Sam Basil, accusing them of a “major political plot” to bring down the government.

Peter O’Neill was issued with an arrest warrant on Monday after the taskforce’s investigation into alleged multi-million dollar payments to a law firm.

The prime minister responded by disbanding the anti-corruption body, Taskforce Sweep, as well as sacking the attorney general and deputy police commissioner.

He has denied any wrong doing and has obtained a court order to put the warrant on hold.

In a statement released Sunday, O’Neill accused Koim and Taskforce Sweep of being “politically compromised” because of “evidence before the government” that Koim held regular private meetings with deputy opposition leader Basil, since 2011.

“Why was he meeting these political leaders in private places? He can’t be conducting interviews in private places,” O’Neill said in the statement.

“It is very clear that the warrant of arrest issued for my arrest was a major political plot by self serving people to bring down the government for their own greed,” he said.

O’Neill also accuses Koim of “openly discussing matters under investigations with his associates and people heavily linked to certain political figures in the country”.

Koim has not commented on the latest allegations but earlier Sunday posted a message on his Facebook page stating that he and others had lost their positions “all for a cause far greater than our personal interest”.

Meanwhile, the head of PNG police investigations and prosecutions has revealed that he’s also been suspended after calling on Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to answer questions from police fraud investigators.

Assistant Commissioner for Crimes, Thomas Eluh, told the ABC he was served with a suspension notice on Saturday evening after earlier releasing a media statement in which he warned that PNG’s criminal justice system was hanging in the balance.

Eluh says he expected that he would be suspended after pursuing the matter against O’Neill.

“I knew it was coming because I was adamant and I was upfront to make sure that the rule of law must prevail irrespective of who you are, whether you’re the prime minister or the tea boy.”

Eluh says he will be challenging his suspension in court on Monday.

In the media statement, Eluh appealed for O’Neill to voluntarily make himself available to fraud investigators to be interviewed in relation to the payment of 71 million kina (A$31 million) to Paul Paraka Lawyers.

“Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law and it is on that basis that we humbly request Prime Minister O’Neill to come in,” the statement said.

“Our criminal justice system hangs in the balance.

“As a leader he must respect our laws and lead by example – the people of Papua New Guinea and the world are watching closely.

“Let me reassure the people of Papua New Guinea and the world that the wheels of justice have been set in motion and will not stop until Prime Minister O’Neill comes in for the interview.”

Faced with mounting pressure to stand down, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has publicly defended his decision not to appear before police fraud investigators, saying police ‘jumped the gun’ by issuing an arrest warrant against him.

He told local television station EMTV on Saturday that the warrant should never have been issued and the matter should be determined by the courts.

“They, the police, don’t need to get a warrant to ask me to go in for an interview. You go and seek warrants when somebody is in breach of a court order,” he said.

“It is not a warrant where we need to just turn up and be interviewed and assess the evidence before you and whether charges can be laid or not. So I think that the police have virtually jumped the gun.

“This matter is before the court. It is within my legal right as a citizen under the constitution to go to court and get the court’s interpretation of what has transpired.”

O’Neill denied that he is avoiding an interview, saying “this matter has been in discussion for quite some time, since the matter broke out several months back.”

Earlier, before Eluh’s suspension, police interviewed the former treasurer Don Polye over the payments to Paraka Lawyers.

He was released until Monday to get legal representation.

O’Neill’s intervention in the police force over the last week represents “an incredible blurring of the separation of powers,” long-time observer of Papua New Guinea politics says.

Professor Allan Patience is a former Professor of Political Science at the University of Papua New Guinea and is now with the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute.

“Normally cabinet appoints the chief commissioner of police and the chief commissioner is able to appoint his deputies. The prime minister now is taking over that role,” he said.

He says there is a clear split in the police force between “those who believe that they should be fearlessly pursuing issues or criminal activities that they see anywhere in the political system” and those “who are likely to be much more inclined to do the bidding of the politicians.”

He says the prime minister should step aside while the allegations are being heard.

“It’s very interesting that what looks like a really serious act of desperation is now seriously undermining democracy in Papua New Guinea.”