PETALING JAYA, Aug 2 — Two men fired point blank at a gold merchant in the capital city early this morning, adding to the growing list of gun-related crime that has Malaysians gripped with fear over the state of security here.

Wong Foo Yui, 34, escaped with his life after one bullet from the three shots fired struck his shoulder in the 8.45am incident.

According to The Star Online, Wong was driving his Toyota Camry when two unknown men on a motorcycle rode up beside his car near a traffic light in Pandan Indah and pulled the trigger on him.

The injured Wong somehow made his way past the gunmen and drove straight to the Pandan Indah police station, which was just a few hundred metres away, the portal wrote.

“He is in stable condition. Initial investigations revealed he was shot at close range by one of the assailants.

“We are in the process of identifying the suspects,” Ampang Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Amiruddin Jamaluddin was quoted as saying.

Today’s shooting incident comes on the heels of the high-profile murder of Arab-Malaysian Development Bank (AmBank) founder and financial wizard Hussain Ahmad Najadi in a busy car park in the heart of Kuala Lumpur on July 29.

The close-range shooting of Ahmad Najadi and his wife — who survived the attack — came three days after the attempted murder of anti-crime activist R. Sri Sanjeevan at a traffic light junction in Jempol, Negri Sembilan.

In response to growing public alarm over the spate of gun-related shootings and murder in the last few days, the government’s efficiency unit, PEMANDU, announced yesterday new measures that allow law enforcers to intercept communications and snap electronic tracking bracelets on organised and violent crime suspects while it works on new laws to tackle the rising crime problem.

The move to provide extra powers to the police will likely strengthen opposition accusations that the Najib administration was working towards restoring preventive laws to curb dissent despite its initial pledge for political reform.

The opposition has claimed that Malaysia’s crime situation would not have reached such an alarming level today if Putrajaya had agreed to form the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), and tasked more police officers on the streets rather than allegedly using them against political opponents of the ruling coalition.