KARACHI: Police authorities on Friday ordered an inquiry into the death of an elderly woman who died in the Chakiwara area on Friday when law enforcers resorted to firing into the air during a raid.

City-SSP Shabbir Ahmed Sethar told Dawn that the police conducted a raid in Singulane for arrest of a wanted suspect, Shoaib.

He conceded that during the raid some residents `encircled` the police upon which the team resorted to aerial firing to disperse the mob.

However, he claimed that the victim, 70-year-old Sara Bibi, had died prior to the firing.

The police took the body to the Civil Hospital for an autopsy. `No bullet wound was found during the postmortem examination,` said the SSP.

However, a large number of people protested outside the Chakiwara police station and alleged that the woman was killed by the police.