PETALING JAYA, Aug 7 — A “Datuk Seri” once held under the Emergency Ordinance (EO) today pleaded ignorance over who might have targeted him in a brazen car-bomb attack that wrecked the rear of his luxury Jaguar vehicle on Monday.

Kuala Lumpur CID chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Ku Chin Wah was reported this morning as confirming the incident and that the blast had only damaged the car without injuring anyone, including motorists or passers-by.

"I have no idea why this happened and do not know who was behind it," the former EO detainee was quoted as saying by The Star on its website today.

The businessman who owns a string of restaurants and nightclubs in the city also denied the bombing was related to gang activity, saying he has since gone into real estate and was concentrated on the sector.

In the 8.45pm incident on Monday, the Datuk Seri and his driver were driving by Taman Taynton View in Cheras when the bomb detonated.

The explosive was reportedly strapped below the Jaguar and ripped through the vehicle to the boot when it exploded but both occupants of the vehicle escaped unharmed.

The incident marked an escalation of violent crimes in the country that have so far been restricted to gun violence and murders.

The shootings, assaults and gun murders exploded into the nation’s consciousness last Monday when Hussain was assassinated in broad daylight by a gunman in Kuala Lumpur, just days after MyWatch co-founder R. Sri Sanjeevan survived an attempted hit in Negri Sembilan on July 27.

The police and Home Ministry have blamed the rash of shootings and violent crimes on the release of detainees once held without trial under the now-repealed Emergency Ordinance, and are angling for the return of such powers.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has also vowed to provide the police “anything” it needs to fight serious crime, including extra powers under a new law that is expected to be tabled in Parliament in September.

But opposition lawmakers contend that Malaysia did not need new laws to combat the growing menace, and only for the police to devote more than just 9 per cent of the force it currently does to crime fighting.