Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Wednesday that he could not comment on the ongoing anti-graft investigation launched by the USKOK office in Zagreb, and said that the arrests conducted earlier in the day proved that the struggle fought by his cabinet against corruption was permanent.

Plenkovic said that the police, the state prosecutor’s office, and the Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) did their jobs autonomously, in a confidential manner and impartially and “when the job is done in such way, then it is certain that we will continue uprooting corruption.”

In the latest anti-corruption operation that has been underway since Wednesday morning, police and anti-corruption investigators have, according to unofficial reports, arrested associates of the late former Zagreb mayor Milan Bandic, as well as the HRT public broadcaster’s director, Kazimir Bacic.

The persons arrested so far are Bandic’s chauffeurs Zdravko Krajina and Vladimir Dzaja, former member of the Commission for the lease of public areas, Jelena Ceklic, former head of the former mayor’s staff service, Andreja Sulentic, and Denis Mohenski, also known as “The King of Advent”.

Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic on Wednesday confirmed the arrest of two city employees in the City’s administration. Ana Stavljenic-Rukavina, a former associate of Bandic’s, was arrested too.

Bacic was arrested over a suspicious contract he signed on behalf of HRT with the Tvornica Zarulja light bulb factory. The media outlets have reported that he is charged with influence peddling and bribe-taking.

Plenkovic declined to comment on the case in greater detail, saying that more information would be known when USKOK decided to release it to the public.