A 51-year-old employee of a security service company was shot dead by two men on a motorcycle while stopping his car at a traffic light junction, here, at 9.30pm, Monday.

Penang CID chief, Datuk Mazlan Kesah said they aproached the car driven by the man in Jalan Scotland who was accompanied by a friend, aged 54, before shooting the motorist at close range several times.

"He was shot at more than five times from the right side of the car and he died on the spot," Mazlan told reporters at the scene of the incident.

He said checks showed the man had two criminal records for theft. His friend, a trader, who was not injured, was detained for investigation after he was also found to have a criminal record.

Mazlan said police had identified the suspects' motorcycle number plate and were tracking them down, adding that the victim's body was sent to Penang Hospital.

He urged those with information on the incident to contact the nearest police station.

This was the third shooting incident occurred in a day nationwide. The first incident happened in Sungai Petani early Monday, in which the victim killed was a car wash owner.

In the second incident which occurred in Kajang in the afternoon, the injured victim was Hulu Langat division MIC Youth deputy chief M. Thanabalan.