IPOH, Feb 24 — Two men suspected of involvement in an armed robbery in Gunung Rapat were killed in a shootout with police in Tapah yesterday morning.

Wong Chun Ming, 42, and Lee Yoke Keong, 62, were shot dead after a 20-minute car chase that wound through Tapah and ended up in Jalan Sungai Kroh, about 20km away.

The suspects were being hunted for their alleged link to an armed robbery at a house in Taman Soon Choon, Gunung Rapat, here on Friday night.

Perak police chief Datuk Osman Salleh said a special taskforce from the state criminal investigations department tracked down the duo at about 5am yesterday in Tapah.

“The suspects made a run in their Proton Waja but police gave chase.

The suspects began shooting at the police in Jalan Sungai Kroh heading towards Kampung Gajah.

“Two of the shots hit an officer but failed to penetrate his bulletproof vest. Police returned fire, killing the suspects while the chase was on,” he told a press conference here yesterday.

Osman said police recovered a .22 revolver, a machete, live ammunition and two spent shells from the suspects’ car.

“The car had been reported reported missing on Sept 29 last year in Penang,” he said.

Osman said Wong had a criminal record for 11 cases including house-breaking, armed robbery and car theft in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Kedah. He was also wanted for a murder in Petaling Jaya.

Lee had a criminal record for 15 cases, including six armed robberies in Perak, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor

In Friday’s armed robbery, three robbers entered a house at 11.20pm where three friends were playing cards in the Taman Soon Choon residence.

When the friends tried to fight off the intruders, one of the robbers drew a firearm and shot two of the victims — one in the arm and the other in the thigh.

The victims managed to apprehend one of the robbers and hand him over to police.

The other two suspects made off with RM5,000 and two handphones.

Osman said the robber who was apprehended — a 30-year-old man from Johor — had been remanded for seven days until Friday.

He said police had also detained a 53-year-old man from Kedah in Genting Highlands on Sunday for alleged involvement in the robbery.

The fourth suspect had been remanded for seven days until Saturday.