A row between Hong Kong police and corruption busters appeared to have cooled on Tuesday after tempers were inflamed by the high-profile arrest of three police officers.

Alan Lai, commissioner of the Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC), told reporters that both his commission and the police force were united in their fight against graft.

"There is no question of conflict between the two departments in the fight against corruption," said Lai. He reassured the public that relations between the two departments were "very good" and "there is nothing to worry about".

He added that police commissioner Tsang Yam-pui had telephoned him from a visit to mainland China late Monday to discuss the row. Hong Kong police had attacked the anti-graft body for publicising the arrests of three policemen, including a senior officer, without substantiating corruption claims against them.

The ICAC responded that the arrests were made "in strict accordance with the laws". One of the arrested policemen was named in media reports as the deputy head of the narcotics bureau, Senior Superintendent Sin Kam-wah, whom the ICAC alleged had accepted free sex from prostitutes in exchange for providing tip-offs about police vice raids.

Newspapers said police commissioner Tsang had sought to tone down the dispute after a reported intervention by Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. The ICAC was set up in the early 1970s when Hong Kong was still a British colony to stamp out worsening corruption in officialdom, particularly in the police force.