MIRI - A MALAYSIAN businessman was shot mafia-style - point blank in the head - in front of his wife and three daughters while they were having dinner at home here.

Miraculously, the businessman, in his 40s, survived the 9pm shooting on Monday but is in critical condition at Miri Hospital's intensive care unit.

Miri Deputy Police Chief Supt Ismail Paduka Idris confirmed the shooting, adding that police were tracking down the suspects.

Asked if the shooting had any connection to gangsterism activities, he said police were looking at all possible angles.

Sources said the victim's wife, also in her 40s, and daughters aged 10, 17 and 23, had lodged a police report.

According to the report, the wife said the family was having their dinner when two men wearing masks and black jackets came in through the unlocked front door, walked up to her husband and shot him with a shotgun before fleeing.

The woman immediately alerted her neighbours.

A witness claimed to have seen someone waiting in a small car outside the house during the incident but said it sped away before anyone could take down the registration number.

Crime Investigation Department personnel rushed to the scene in several patrol cars after receiving a call from the neighbours.

An ambulance rushed the man to the hospital, located about eight kilometres from the house. He was bleeding profusely but still breathing.

As at 3pm on Tuesday, he was still unconscious and in critical condition. -- THE STAR