An official of a private firm was shot and robbed of Tk 1.50 lakh at Daulatpur yesterday.

Bidyut Thakur, 38, manager of Akunji Brothers, a jute trading firm, withdrew the money from Daulatpur branch of Sonali Bank at noon. He hired an autorickshaw and was returning to his office.

When the autorickshaw neared the jute trading firm, a gang of six robbers approached and asked Bidyut to give the money. As he refused to give in to their demand, the robbers exploded crackers, shot him in the head and took away the money. They also beat up a raw jute supplier, Tipu Hawlader, as he tried to resist them. Both were admitted to Khulna Medical College Hospital in critical condition.

Traffic movement on the Khulna-Jessore Highway at Daulatpur was disrupted for an hour following the incident. Officer-in-charge (OC) of Daulatpur Police Station said a combing operation has been launched to nab the robbers.