Car bomb explodes, Datuk Seri with underworld links CHEATS DEATH

KUALA LUMPUR - It looks an Opposition politician who a week ago warned Malaysia was fast going back to the days of Al Capone, where mobsters ruled and gunfights, arson and bombings were a daily occurrence has hit the nail on the head.

Not only was a 26-year-old man gunned down in Kedah on Tuesday night by an unknown assailant, a wealthy businessman who owns several restaurants and nightclubs in Kuala Lumpur, cheated death when his luxury car was blown up on Monday.

The businessman, a Datuk Seri who has had past brushes with the law, was in the car. But he was lucky. Both he and his driver managed to escape unhurt. They were passing through Taman Taynton View in Cheras when the car bomb was detonated.

'Sabotage'

According to the Star, the bomb had been strapped below the car, sending ball bearings ripping through the boot of the Jaguar when it exploded.

The businessman, who was not named, is said to be a former detainee under the Emergency Ordinance and had been remanded in Simpang Renggam for more than a year. He is also alleged to have some links with the underworld.

City CID chief Senior Asst Comm Ku Chin Wah has confirmed the incident, saying that the blast only damaged the rear of the car and other motorists or passers-by were not injured.

However, Ku stopped short at calling it a murder attempt, describing the incident as "an act of sabotage".

Opposition politician Chua Jui Meng was more blunt when asked for his view for the rise in crime.

"We have to face it. Malaysia is in a state of lawlessness. The latest shooting reminds me of the Al Capone movies where the line between the cops and the mobsters was invisible and you had open gunfights and killings on the streets," PKR vice president Chua Jui Meng had told Malaysia Chronicle in a July 30 article titled M'sia back to the days of Al Caponedue to govt inaction from Dr M's days

"In the early 2000s, Ong Tee Keat who was then the MCA Youth chief sent a dossier he compiled of the links between the syndicates and certain government leaders to Dr Mahathir (Mohamad, the former prime minister).

"But nothing was done, Mahathir didn't want to do anything. Is it any surprise that we have now regressed. My wife just came back from Bangkok and while we like to think that it is is a 'sin city', it is actually much safer than here."

Malaysia Chronicle