He was a government servant who led a dual life.

By day, he worked as an enforcement officer at the Penang Municipal Council. At night, his 'enforcement duties' bordered on the wrong side of the law.

Early this morning, policemen in a patrol car spotted the man fleeing from a 24-hour convenience store in Lebuh Pantai here and heading towards his car.

As his face was wrapped in a shirt, the policemen suspected something amiss and trailed the man as he sped away in the vehicle in the 5am incident.

In the short chase that ensued, the police succeeded in detaining the suspect at the traffic light junction in Lebuh Carnavon, not far from the store.

Timur Laut police chief ACP Gan Kong Meng said that upon inspection, the policemen seized a sickle and recovered an undisclosed amount of cash from the 26-year-old suspect.

He said initial investigations revealed that the suspect had used the sickle to threaten workers at the store to surrender money from the cash register.

"The man, who worked at the Penang Municipal Council as an enforcement officer, operated alone when committing the hold-up," Gan told reporters here.