An early morning shoot-out between a man and the police ended after he was shot dead.

In the 4.10am incident which took place at Taman Rakyat, near Mergong, Alor Setar today, police recovered drugs syabu, Eramin 5 pills and pil kuda as well as a Smith & Wesson revolver and a hand grenade, believed to have been the suspect's.

Kedah deputy police chief Dep Comm Datuk Abd Jalil Hassan said the suspect was behaving suspiciously in a Honda car at a traffic light near a bank in Taman Rakyat.

The suspect did not stop his car despite being ordered to do by the police and had then sped of towards the Taman Rakyat mosque area.

Police then gave chase.

"The suspect had fired three times at the police and police had to return fire. The suspect then lost control of his car and rammed into a tree," he told reporters.

"Further checks on the suspect's car found a man with no identification document on him," he said.

Police also recovered a three live rounds from the scene.

The case will be investigated under Section 3 of Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971, Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act and Section 307 of Penal Code.

The body was sent to Sultanah Bahiyah Alor Setar for post-mortem.