Former police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar has been suspended from his duties as a consultant to the Home Ministry, the government said.

The suspension came in the light of allegations, in sections of the press, that he had possibly tipped off middleman Melvin Theuma about his impending arrest. 

Theuma was granted presidential pardon to testify in proceedings in connection with the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

In its statement, the Home Ministry said that Cutajar defended himself against the allegations but the ministry said the suspension comes into immediate effect until the facts are established.

The Nationalist Party and civil society NGO Repubblika on Sunday called on the government to cancel Lawrence Cutajar's contract after claims that he tipped .

Times of Malta said on Sunday that previously unheard recordings have been uncovered by Europol, in which Theuma claims that Cutajar, then police commissioner, had met with an associate of his.

Cutajar, who resigned from the post of police commissioner in January, was given a contract as a government consultant on public safety and logistics. He earns €31,000 a year for the part-time job.