KARACHI: A 35-year-old woman was shot dead in Lines Area on Sunday afternoon ostensibly by two masked robbers, triggering protest by area residents who assumed it was a bid to kidnap a minor child from her custody, according to officials and witnesses.

Brigade police said Aqeela Aman, who was carrying a minor child along with her, was intercepted by two suspects in Lines Area. The suspects reportedly tried to snatch cash from her. As she offered resistance, the gunmen opened fire and fled along with looted cash, police said.

The child, however, remained safe in the incident. Aqeela sustained critical bullet wounds and was transported to Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC) where doctors pronounced her dead on arrival.

“She sustained bullet injuries on right side of mandible,” Dr. Seemin Jamali, head of the emergency department of the hospital, said.

The incident triggered violent protest by the local residents. They came out on New Preedy Street, burnt tyres and pelted stones on vehicles. As a result of it, the traffic was suspended on the busy road for several hours.

Talking to media, the residents claimed that the suspects tried to kidnap the baby from his mother and she was gunned down while resisting the attempt. The police, however, denied it and claimed that the incident appeared to be outcome of robbery bid in which one of the close relatives of the victim might be involved.

Brigade SHO Raja Tanveer told Dawn that Aqeela had recently sold her property, which was being opposed by her brother, Zeeshan.

Tanveer claimed that the woman had gone to take money from the buyer of her property. She got around Rs400,000 from the buyer and was returning home when allegedly her brother and his accomplice, wearing masks, tried to snatch the money from her.

On resisting, the suspects shot and killed her and managed to escape along with the looted cash. “Aqeela’s brother had orchestrated the robbery incident,” the police officer maintained.