Penang police are hunting three men believed to be members of a housebreaking gang who have been active in the state over the past several months.

State CID chief SAC Mazlan Kesah said they were Muhamad Hafiz Saidin, 32, of Pokok Tambang, Tasek Gelugor here, Kong Teik Chye, 31, of Jalan Habour Place, Seaview Tower, Butterworth and Nazrul Abd Wahab,28, of Kampung Kuala Tawar, Kulim, Kedah.

"Public with information about the trio whereabouts are requested to contact the nearest police station to help in the investigation," he told a press conference here Thursday.

He said police believed several housebreaking cases could be solved if the trio, who were also believed to be involved in several car thefts and robbery cases in the state, were detained.

In another development, Mazlan said police had fresh evidence on the case involving a restauranteur who was shot by a man in Simpang Ampat, near here on Sept 4.

"We have fresh evidence on the incident but we cannot reveal it for fear of affecting the investigation, but we believe the case can be solved soon," he said.

In the incident, a restaurant operator in his 40s was seriously injured after being shot by a man on motorcycle when he stopped at the Taman Merak Commercial Area here at 3.13 pm.

Mazlan said police had also identified several individuals who might have information on the automatic pistol magazine and bullets found in a car in Jalan Kendi, Taman Indah Commercial Centre, Simpang Ampat, here on Sept 6.

He said police would distribute their photographs to the public in an effort to detect them.

Apart from the magazine and the bullets, police also found an axe handle, an army green camouflage jacket and a self-identification file of a car reposseser in the car.