A Saudi diplomat has been shot dead in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka, authorities say.

Police found the body of Khalak al-Ali on Tuesday at an intersection near his apartment building in the Gulshan district and rushed him to a hospital where he died three hours later, Lutful Kabir, a local police deputy commissioner, told the AFP news agency.

"He was hit by a bullet in the left chest," Kabir said.

Yusuf Jamil, a spokesman for United Hospital, said the diplomat had been admitted to the intensive care unit after he was brought in by police but could not be resuscitated.

Kabir said police were investigating the murder of the 45-year-old, who headed the embassy's citizens' affairs department.

Abdullah al-Bussairy, the Saudi ambassador to Bangladesh, told the local UNB news agency: "One of our diplomatic staff was killed near his house in Gulshan this morning. This is sad."

The killers might have shot the Saudi official somewhere else and dumped his body on the road in Gulshan, Khandker Lutful Kabir, deputy commissioner of Gulshan division, told the Daily Star newspaper.

“Police did not see any sign of blood at the place the body was found,” he said.

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The attackers may have shot the Saudi diplomat elsewhere then dumped the body in Gulshan district [Reuters]

Aljazeera