Four police officers, one of them a woman, were injured after motorcyclists, believed to be a group of 'mat rempit', rammed into them during a New Year's eve road operation early today.

The 4.40am incident occurred at Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu highway, near the exit from the Penang bridge.

Timur Laut district police chief, Asst Comm Mior Farid Al Atrash Wahid said, the incident happened during an operation to eradicate gangster activities in the state.

He said the group of motorcyclists was trying to make a U-turn to escape the police roadblock before ending up hitting the cops on duty.

Three of the police officers suffered serious injuries while the other cop's injury was minor.

The injured cops are from Timur Laut District Traffic headquarters.

The victims have been sent to the Pulau Pinang Hospital for treatment.