As shootings continue to occur on a daily basis, police have resorted to reviving a little-known law for what they say is a bid to take serious criminals likely to be behind these incidents, off the streets.

This law, the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (PCA), is now being used to arrest and hold hundreds of people under Ops Cantas , under which police are mounting roadblocks and conducting forced searches nationwide.

The revival of the PCA comes as calls are made for the reinstatement of the repealed Emergency (Public Order and Crime Prevention) Ordinance 1969 to deal with crime...