Abdul Jabbar, 45, bled to death after receiving a bullet in the chest just as he was about to get into his car to drop off his 7-year-old son Prince at school on way to work.

Jabbar's Manager Monir Hossain and Driver Salam were also bullet-hit as they tried to catch the killers.

"The incident happened at around 7:30am. Salam and I were inside the microbus parked on the driveway and waiting for my boss (Jabbar) and his son to get down. As they were about to get into the vehicle, two youths of about 25 years of age came running. One of them pulled out a revolver and shot my boss from a close range," said Monir.

He said Jabbar had seen the men pulling out their revolvers. He pulled his son away from the line of fire just as one of the gunmen opened fire. Jabbar hunkered down on the ground to protect his son and took a bullet on the left side of the chest.

"Although bullet-hit, my boss caught one of the gunmen, but he wasn't strong enough to hold on due to profuse bleeding," he said.

"Salam and I jumped out of the microbus and caught one of the gunmen. But the other guy shot both of us in the leg and we fell on the ground as both men ran away," Monir said.

Meanwhile, Jabbar's family members rushed out of the house. Despite being bullet-hit, Salam drove Jabbar and others to Suhrawardy Hospital where doctors pronounced the contractor dead.

Salam and Monir were admitted to Suhrawardy Hospital and Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

The victim's body was handed over to his family after autopsy at the DMCH.

Jabbar's brother Abdur Rahman said unidentified extortionists were trying to get his brother on the phone for some time. "He was worried and wouldn't answer the phone for the last few days," Rahman said.

But an uncle of the victim linked the murder to business rivalry. "He was likely to buy a tender schedule for an R&H work at Paikpara tomorrow (Thursday)," he said.

Jabbar worked as a contractor since 1986 and owned a rent-a-car shop at Kalyanpur he opened three years ago. He left behind his wife and three children.

He was also a commissioner candidate from ward No. 11 in the last DCC (Dhaka City Corporation) elections, but later pulled out of the race.

No case was filed or no-one arrested till 8:00 last night.