A man was shot in the abdomen during a struggle with police officers who raided a Balestier Road apartment yesterday morning to investigate a series of scams.

He was trying to snatch a revolver from a police officer who had stepped in to stop the suspect from assaulting his partner when the shot was fired.

The 36-year-old man was taken by paramedics to hospital and is in stable condition, the police said.

The suspect has been arrested for voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from carrying out his duty, as well as for cheating offences and suspected drug-related offences. He has also been linked to incidents of unlawful assembly and Customs-related illegal activities.

The shooting incident happened in an apartment at City Suites condominium at 235 Balestier Road at about 1am. Three plainclothes policemen, armed with revolvers and handcuffs, raided an apartment to arrest four people suspected of being involved in a series of cheating cases.

When the police entered the unit, the man lunged at an officer and attacked him repeatedly, causing him to bleed in the face and fall to the floor.

The man refused to heed a warning from a second officer to stop attacking the policeman.

When a second suspect started moving towards the first policeman, the second officer drew his revolver in a bid to stop him from joining in the assault of his partner.

The 36-year-old man then turned to the second officer and tried to snatch his revolver.

In the ensuing struggle, a shot was fired, although this did not stop the man from continuing his violent actions, the police said.

Backup officers eventually managed to subdue the two hos-tile men.

Both officers were hurt - the first with injuries to his face and arm, while the second was wounded on his hands and lips.

The police said the second man, 22, has also been arrested for voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from carrying out his duty.

As a matter of protocol, the special investigation section is investigating the officer's discharge of the firearm.

Two women in the flat, aged 33 and 23, said to be the girlfriends of the two men, were also arrested for cheating and the suspected consumption of controlled drugs.

Police seized $20,000 of suspected criminal proceeds, drugs and drug-related paraphernalia. The Central Narcotics Bureau has also been roped in to investigate the alleged drug offences.

When The Straits Times went to the condo last night, the gate was shut tight and the security guard on duty declined to comment.

Residents of the condo and those in neighbouring residential blocks said they were unaware of the incident and read about it only in the evening news.

They did not hear the gunshot.

Besides the four occupants in the flat, three others - two aged 18 and one aged 32 - who are also suspected of being involved in the cheating cases, were arrested between Tuesday and yesterday in separate raids.

Police said they had used victims' particulars, including credit card details, to apply for and buy handsets and phone lines from a telco. They then sold the handsets for cash.

When the telco tried to claim the money from the banks, the transactions were rejected, costing the telco $43,000. The seven victims whose particulars were misused, however, were charged for the mobile phone subscriptions.

At a press conference yesterday, Commander of Tanglin Police Division Cheong Chee Ming said the police will use "necessary force" to apprehend criminals.

He added: "Police officers work in a dynamic environment. There are many unknowns out there and the risks the police officers face on a daily basis are very real.

"They have to be nimble and react to situations as they develop."