Three men were arrested for aggressive behaviour and posing a threat to the police in Larkin here, on Friday.

Johor Baharu Selatan police chief ACP Sulaiman Salleh said the trio, aged between 29 and 34, might have been planning a robbery.

In a statement, he said in the 3.40am incident, a team of policemen came across three men in a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) in Jalan Susur 3, Jalan Tun Razak.

At that juncture, the MPV driver became aggressive and reversed the vehicle, ramming into the rear of a police car and crashed into another police car in front.

Sulaiman said the MPV continued to ram into the police patrol cars in an attempt to escape and in the process, almost hit several policemen surrounding the MPV.

As the situation, fuelled by the MPV driver's aggressive behaviour, endangered the lawmen's safety, the police were forced to fire several shots in the direction of the MPV, hitting its driver on the thigh while the other two were not injured.

The injured suspect was sent to the Sultanah Aminah Hospital where his condition was reported to be stable.

Initial investigations revealed the MPV driver has 11 previous convictions while the other suspects have between one and two criminal records.

Sulaiman said the police seized a machete from the MPV which was believed to be stolen.