KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 — The Attorney-General’s Chambers yesterday insisted it will not succumb to threats against its officers, after the body of deputy public prosecutor Anthony Kevin Morais was earlier found inside an oil drum in Subang.

Morais had been abducted nearly two weeks ago and police believe his death may be a case of revenge linked to a corruption case involving a military doctor he had been prosecuting.

“It is also emphasized that the Attorney-General’s Chambers will not be cowed by such acts of cowardice and intimidation against any of its officers.  

“The rule of law can never be allowed to be undermined if Malaysia is to uphold its parliamentary democracy,” the AGC said in a statement last night.

It also pressed police to extensively investigate the death of Morais, whom the agency said had exemplified the saying “prosecuting without fear of favour” during his career.

“While respecting the separation of functions between investigators and prosecutors, we strongly urge the police to investigate thoroughly to enable the perpetrators to be identified, found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” it added.

Police have arrested five individuals over Morais’ death, including a 52-year-old man who led investigators to the deputy public prosecutor’s body in Subang.

Bukit Aman CID director Datuk Seri Mohmad Salleh yesterday said three vehicles and RM32,100 in cash was also seized, with the money believed to be payment to carry out Morais' abduction.

Mohmad stressed that the arrests and evidence gathered in the police's investigation disproved speculation that Morais' disappearance had to do with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fiasco or the 2013 murder of Arab-Malaysian Development Bank (AmBank) founder Hussain Ahmad Najadi.

Morais was last seen on September 4 leaving his Menara Duta condominium in Segambut for his office at the Attorney-General’s Chambers in Putrajaya and the government lawyer’s elder brother filed a missing person’s report the next day.

Morais, 55, had been seconded to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission nearly 10 years ago to aid its prosecution division, but returned to the Attorney-General’s Chambers in July as deputy head of its appellate and trial division.

Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali previously denied Morais had been involved in any government probe on 1MDB.