SUKKUR: Shooters suspected to be from the Sundrani clan gunned down a prominent teacher associated with the Institute of Business Administration, because of an ongoing enmity over “honour”, the police said on Thursday.

Dr Mohammad Ajmal Sawand was on his way back to Sukkur from his Shawli village when attackers holed up in the woods along the road opened indiscriminate fire at his car in the Shalo area of Kandhkot, killing him on the spot.

Giving details of dispute, SSP Kandhkot Irfan Ali Samo told Dawn that two groups of Sundrani and Sawand clans were at loggerheads since 2022 due to a clash that erupted between them on a matter of “honour”.

According to sources, the honour dispute involved a girl from the Sundrani clan and a man from the Sawand community. The man was murdered in September after being declared ‘karo’ while the fate of the girl, declared ‘kari’, remains unclear.

A woman and four men belonging to the Sundrani clan lost their lives in the clash that happened last year, the SSP said.

Soon after that last year’s clash, the group belonging to the Sawand clan abandoned their homes and fled the Shawli village, in an apparent move to escape reprisal, said the officer.

The SSP said that police had cordoned off the area and were raiding various places to apprehend the suspected killers of Dr Ajmal Sawand.

Scores of armed people belonging to the Sawand community and locals rushed to the spot where the ambush took place and shifted the professor’s body to the taluka hospital. The body was handed over to the family after a post-mortem examination.

The funeral prayer was held in the evening in Society Area, Sukkur. Teachers, students, government officials and people from all walks of life attended Prof Sawand’s last rites.

IBA Vice Chancellor Asif Sheikh said Dr Sawand, who did his PhD from Paris Descartes Univer­sity, had been working for the institute for the last eight years. He said Mr Sawand was a distingui­shed scholar in the field of computer science and made significant contributions to the institute through his research work.

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2023