KUALA LUMPUR • In the early hours of July 24, three years ago, embattled then Prime Minister Najib Razak placed an urgent call to his powerful Minister of National Security, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Mr Zahid, who had served as Mr Najib's political secretary in the 1990s, was directed by his boss to track down businessman Rosman Abdullah who, days earlier, had been subjected to hours of interrogation by the country's powerful anti-corruption agency, and place him under full police protection.