The police and the USKOK anti-corruption office on Thursday searched the offices and home of Pozega Mayor Darko Puljasic, who stepped down as a member of parliament of the ruling HDZ after it was revealed that he participated in rigging tenders for energy renewal in that city.

After the media last week released a secretly taped conversation in which Puljasic urged the director of one of the town’s utility companies, Josip Vitez, to violate the law in energy renewal deals, Puljasic stepped down from all party functions and today he was questioned by investigators from the anti-corruption office.

Apart from Puljasic, investigators are also focusing on his deputy, Mario Pilon, also a former HDZ local official.

Unofficial sources have said that a preliminary investigation was launched in April last year due to suspicion of rigging tenders for the energy renewal of several residential buildings managed by the town’s utility company Komunalac.

The Interior Ministry confirmed that they are “acting in coordination with USKOK,” without releasing any other details.