PASIR PUTEH, MALAYSIA - A 30-year-old woman travelling by car with her husband was shot dead yesterday morning after they did not heed a warning by three men in another car to stop.

Ayuni Hashim and her husband, Mohd Zaidi Che Li, 33, were travelling to their jewellery shop in Jerteh, Terengganu, from their home in Jelawat, Bachok, at the time.

The mother of three, who was shot in her right shoulder, died on arrival at the Bachok health clinic.

State deputy police chief Senior Assistant Commissioner II Amir Hamzah Ibrahim said the drama unfolded around 8am at Cabang Tiga Kuala Semerak.

Three masked men in a silver Proton Waja tried to block the couple's Proton Waja. The men directed Zaidi, who was driving, to stop but he sped off.

The gunman at the back of the car opened fire twice but the shots did not hit the car.

"They chased the couple's car and when it made a U-turn they fired another shot, which hit the woman," Amir Hamzah said at the district police station.

The suspects, believed to be in their 30s and 40s, then fled the scene in the direction of Tok Bali.

Ayuni's husband, who was unhurt, drove to the health clinic but Ayuni was pronounced dead.

Police have yet to establish whether robbery was the motive for the attack.

"We believe a revolver was used but the investigation is continuing.

"We urge members of the public who come across a silver Proton Waja with some damage to its left rear to contact the nearest police station," said Amir Hamzah.

Police have mounted an operation to nab the suspects.

Ayuni's father, Hashim @ Zakaria Junoh, 60, said the couple had left their house around 7.20am to send their two sons to school before sending a daughter to his house in Kampung Nipah, Bachok.

"This was their daily routine before leaving for their shop in Jerteh. They would pick up their children late in the evening after they had closed their shop," said the businessman at the Pasir Putih hospital mortuary where his daughter's body had been sent for a post-mortem.

Hashim said Ayuni, the third of six children, had been travelling to Jerteh daily for the past five years after the couple took over the goldsmith business from Zaidi's father.