KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers questioned today the competency of the police force after its chief, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, said that more than 100 criminal suspects will soon be detained under the amended Prevention of Crime Act (PCA), which allows for preventive detention.

PKR’s Padang Serai MP N. Surendran said the Inspector-General of Police’s (IGP) announcement is unprecedented and questioned why the 100 suspects have yet to be arrested and charged.

“Is the police force so incompetent that despite the dangerous nature of these 100 individuals, the police can’t get any evidence at all to charge them?” Surendran told The Malay Mail Online today.

“That shows a total failure in investigation methods. You should be able to find the evidence to charge these 100 guys. Why are we waiting for detention without trial?” added the PKR vice-president.

Khalid was reported by news portal The Malaysian Insider yesterday as saying that the police plan to detain more than 100 suspects after the amendments to the PCA are gazetted, likely by the end of the year.

He said that under the police operation Ops Cantas Khas, 41 people were found to be involved in crime syndicates and gangsterism.

Surendran, who is also a lawyer, said that the PCA amendments — which allow a person to be detained without trial for up to two years at a time — are illegal and unconstitutional, as there is no advisory board provided for that can hear detainees’ representations, but only a panel to decide on detention orders.

“This arrest of 100 persons will be illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional. It sets a dangerous precedent for everybody. It can be used against political dissent, members of opposition and civil society,” he added.

The Bar Council also criticised the PCA amendments last October, pointing out that judicial reviews of detention orders on the grounds of merit are prohibited.

Its chief, Christopher Leong, said that the Prevention of Crime Board, introduced under the PCA, has limited utility as it is designed to be wholly dependent on the report of the Inquiry Officer, who is appointed by the minister.

DAP’s Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua questioned today how the police came up with a list of 100 suspects if there was no evidence of their crimes.

“We are shocked that these are people on the loose, despite the police knowing that they’ve committed crime,” Pua told The Malay Mail Online.

“The police are just sitting back waiting for the PCA to be gazetted, and then only taking them under detention without trial. Surely the police should be more competent in gathering the necessary evidence to put these culprits in their place?” he added.

PAS’ Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad said that the PCA violates the basic principle of justice.

“They’ve got suspects. They should put them under observation and try to build a case and find proof, rather than waiting for the door, the PCA, which allows them to detain people without proof, on mere suspicion,” Khalid told The Malay Mail Online.

The PAS central working committee member said that blame should be cast on Putrajaya, rather than just on the police.

“Maybe they’ve not been given sufficient tools, a sufficient budget, or sufficient training. The government tries to circumvent all these shortcomings by giving them extra powers of arrest. It’s mismanagement on the part of the government,” he said.

The PCA amendments were passed by Parliament, despite the Najib administration repealing the Internal Security Act (ISA) and Emergency Ordinance (EO) in 2011, two security laws that had also provided for detention without trial.