The police also detained his four accomplices, in their 30s and 40s to facilitate investigations into house break-ins.

Kuala Muda police chief ACP Md Zukir Md Isa said the suspect who sustained a gunshot wound on the left leg, was warded at the Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital.

Relating the incident, he said about 9am, a police team spotted four men in a Proton Waja behaving suspiciously in front of a bank in Taman Ria.

However, upon seeing an approaching police patrol car, the men rushed to leave the scene, Md Zukir said in a statement here.

“The police gave chase for about 20 minutes, passing through several neighbourhoods before arriving at a village behind the SMK Dato’ Bijaya Setia.

“There, a narrow road at the village blocked the suspects’ car before it rammed into a lamp post.

“At this juncture, one of the suspects tried to attack a policeman with a machete but was shot in the left thigh,” he said, adding that the three other suspects were subsequently detained with help from other policemen.

He said a fifth suspect was picked up in Taman Seri Angsana near here at 12.30pm.