DRAMA unfolded on the Malaysian highway on Tuesday. It featured a 30km police car chase, a shootout, two cars hijacked at gunpoint and two injured policemen.

It started when Corporal Mohd Zulazri Omar and Lance Corporal Noradi Musidi responded to a burglary attempt at Damansara Utama in Kuala Lumpur.

New Straits Times (NST) reported that when the two arrived at the scene around noon, they spotted three suspects driving away in a silver Toyota Vios.

A chase ensued along the Middle Ring Road II highway before both cars crashed into a Toyota Harrier at Taman Tasik Metropolitan, near Gombak.

Harian Metro reported that the suspects, who had been speeding, lost control of their car.

They got out of their wrecked car and fled into some undergrowth, heading towards Kepong with the cops in pursuit.

The suspects fired several shots at the policemen who returned fire.

The suspects then stopped a couple in a Proton Wira at gunpoint. The couple were forced out and the suspects fled in the car, said NST.

Harian Metro said the driver of the Proton had stopped his car to witness the accident.

Petaling Jaya police chief Arjunaidi Mohamed said the suspects travelled for about 8km before abandoning the Proton at Jalan Ang Toi in Kepong.

They then stopped another car, a Honda Accord, also at gunpoint before using it to flee.

The other police cars continued the pursuit, but lost sight of the suspects.

AC Arjunaidi said the drivers and passengers of both cars were unharmed.

Police set up road blocks in the surrounding area as the hunt for the suspects, believed to be in their 20s, intensified on Tuesday evening.

Initial checks showed that the Toyota Vios, which was used by the suspects earlier, was reported stolen in Brickfields last month.

A chopper was found under the back passenger seat and a wooden pole was in the boot of the Vios.

The front of the police patrol car was completely dented.

Both the policemen who were involved in the chase and shootout were given outpatient treatment at the Selayang Hospital.

Cpl Zulazri, 24, who was driving the patrol car, suffered bruises on his arms, while Lance Cpl Noradi suffered a fractured left arm.

The crash caused a two-hour traffic jam along a 5km section of thehighway.