TWO men shot dead by police in Gurun two days ago were wanted for several armed robbery cases in Kedah, according to state police chief Wan Hassan Wan Ahmad.

He said the two men, in their 60s and 40s, were in a Proton Iswara car that tried to evade a police patrol.

Wan Hassan said the incident happened at about 11pm on Saturday, when a Kedah CID team was patrolling Sungai Petani, Jeniang, Sik (Kuala Muda district) and they spotted the car, in which the men were behaving in a suspicious manner.

“When ordered to stop, they sped away, forcing the police to chase the car and intercept it.

“During the chase the suspects fired several shots at the police, forcing the police to shoot back in self-defence, leading to a shoot-out during which a policeman was hit,” he said today, adding that the officer was not injured because he was wearing a bulletproof vest.

He said police searched the car and recovered several items used for house-breaking, such a machete, screwdriver and a sword, and two .38 revolvers.

According to Wan Hassan, the suspect in his 60s had 64 previous convictions, including robbery and drugs offences, while the other suspect had no previous convictions.

They were believed to be responsible for 16 to 20 robbery cases in the state, he said, adding that the police were still searching for their accomplices. – Bernama, December 12, 2022.