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KOTA BARU – A total of 83 individuals nationwide have been detained under the Prevention of Crime Act (Poca) 1959 from January 1 to March 10 this year.
A member of the Crime Prevention Board under the Home Affairs Ministry, Datuk Khalil Azlan Chik, said that from the figure, 12 were placed under detention orders while another 71 individuals were placed under surveillance orders.
He said the board received many case files for action, either to issue detention orders or surveillance orders against hardcore criminals who cannot be prosecuted by the courts due to certain problems.
“It is difficult to accuse a person in court without proof. However, there are testimonies about the involvement of individuals and their files have already been submitted.
“Action can only be taken after we have gone through the processes at Bukit Aman and the Attorney-General’s Chambers. The enquiry officer would also have to meet the criminal before making recommendations to the board for further action,” he said to reporters after launching the Melor police station here yesterday.
Also present were Kelantan police chief Datuk Muhamad Zaki Harun and Kelantan Crime Prevention and Community Safety Department head Mit Emong.
Khalil said from when Poca was introduced on April 2, 2014, until March 10 this year, action has been taken against 10,012 individuals under the act, with 2,673 individuals placed under detention orders, another 6,537 under surveillance orders, and another 802 released.
Apart from that, as of February 28, 425 individuals are still placed under detention orders while another 2,166 are still under surveillance orders. This brings the total number of those still under detention and surveillance orders to 2,591 individuals.
“In Kelantan alone, 127 individuals from outside the contingent registered under Poca are placed in various police stations in this state,” he said.
Khalil said, based on the 2021 statistics, a total of 1,190 people had action taken against them under Poca compared with 1,968 in 2020 in several areas including Simpang Renggam, Pokok Sena, Bentong, and Bintulu.
He said most of the cases involved drug-related crimes and online criminal fraud.
“We also discovered that most of them placed under the orders are aged between 30 and 40 years old. The youngest to date is an 18-year-old individual, while the oldest is 73 years old.
“The purpose of the order is to initiate police-society collaboration to guide the individuals to become useful individuals. We hope after two years, they will be rehabilitated and released to their home states,” he added. – Bernama, March 14, 2022