In the incident, which took place at 10.45pm, the policeman shot himself in the midst of a car chase involving the suspect’s vehicle and a police patrol car.

Cheras district police chief Mohamed Mokhsein Mohamed Zon said a police team had found the man with his girlfriend, acting suspiciously in a car in Cheras Sentral.

“A team of officers and members from the criminal investigation division approached the car for inspection.

“The suspect backed up his car when he saw the policemen and hit the police car three times before he managed to escape,” Mokhsein was quoted as saying by Kosmo.

He said the police gave chase and the policeman in the car was accidentally injured when they caught up with the suspect’s car.

“The man got out of his car and tried to escape by jumping off the embankment.

“The 30-year-old suspect was found unconscious and was pronounced dead at the scene.

“A check found that the suspect had 25 previous cases, including seven involving violent crimes such as attempted murder, armed robbery, 10 burglary cases and eight drug cases,” he said.

According to Mokhsein, the police found various equipment believed to be used for housebreaking activities in the suspect’s car, which had also been reported missing in Kajang.

“We arrested the woman who was in the car at the time of the incident,” he said, adding that she was the suspect’s girlfriend.

Mokhsein said with her help, the police were able to arrest three other men, including a Myanmar national holding a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees card, in the area.

He said the case was being investigated under Section 307 of the Penal Code.