An undercover narcotics policeman was shot during an operation to nab two peddlers at a restaurant along Jalan Pasir Mas-Rantau Panjang here. L/Kpl Muhammad Hairi Yusoff ducked in time and the bullet grazed the back of his head. He was with a team of officers conducting a sting on drug peddlers on Sunday night. Two suspects arrived in a Proton Waja and met the "buyers" at the restaurant here, near the Rantau Panjang border town. While "negotiations" to purchase some amphetamine pills were going on, the suspects became suspicious and L/Kpl Hairi tried to arrest them. There was a struggle and one of the suspects took out a pistol and fired a few rounds which hit Hairi. The other policemen returned fire but the suspects got away. One of the suspects was caught several hours later, state police chief Senior Asst Comm I Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi told a press conference. He said Hairi was in stable condition and police would contact their Thai counterparts to find out whether the other suspect had fled to Thailand.

Source: The Star, 19 Feb 2008