The family of murdered educationist Ajmal Sawand has warned of a hunger strike if the criminals were not arrested, as it awaits justice despite one month passed since the killing in Sindh’s Kandhokot.

“If the police fail to arrest the culprits then we will protest in Islamabad and continue our struggle until culprits are not arrested,” Tariq Sawand, brother of Ajmal Sawand, told Aaj News in an interview on Friday. “We may go on a hunger strike if criminals are not arrested.”

Dr Mohammad Ajmal Sawand was killed on April 6 in a city, which is infamous for criminals in its riverine area locally known as the Kacha area. He was on his way back to Sukkur from his Shawli village when attackers sprayed his car with bullets in the Shalo area of Kandhkot.

He was a prominent teacher associated with the Institute of Business Administration, Sukkur. Initial reports claimed that Ajmal was gunned down over “five-year-old honor enmity”.

But the first information report later registered alleged that he was killed for his refusal to pay worth Rs2 million extortion money.

The FIR was registered on the complaint of the victim’s brother Muhammad Ashraf Sawand under sections 120-B (punishment of criminal conspiracy), 365A (kidnapping or abducting for extorting property, valuable security, etc), 384 (punishment for extortion), 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), and 302 (punishment of qatl-i-amd) of the Pakistan Penal Code. The complaint also invoked sections 6 (terrorism) and 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

The murder was condemned across the province, with politicians demanding strong action against police and district officials for their apparent criminal negligence.

Ajmal’s brother was in Karachi on May 4 to protest outside the press club. He demanded that the criminals must be arrested. He announced his decision to again gather at the same venue on May 16, with Sindh Tarqi Pasand Party leader Qadir Magsi.

The case was registered at the Kandhkot A-Section police station and SHO Diljan Magsi was initially investigating the case. But after his transfer, SHO Ranoo Khan Mehr was appointed to take over the case.

An action has been taken against the “wanted Sundrani armed men” in the case, said SHO Mehr. The police have claimed to have destroyed over 50 hideouts of the alleged criminals in various raids.

The victim’s brother has named at least 12 suspects from the Sundrani tribe as the killers of his brother – including SHO Aijaz Ali, Farman, Rano, Mendhro, Bakht Ali, Wahid Bakhsh, Sefal, Ghulam Mustafa, Ameer Bakhsh, Muhammad Ali and two unidentified persons. But a “wanted suspect” has fled to the other side of the river Indus, the police claimed.

SHO Mehr claimed that the police were following the orders of Kashmore SSP Irfan Ali Samo and vowed that the suspects would soon be put behind bars.

An operation to arrest Sundrani’s armed men was under way, claimed Ghoraghat’s SHO Kazim Jagirani.

The victim’s family has called for the immediate arrest and punishment of the criminals and urged the police to expedite the investigation to bring the culprits to justice.

“The murder was initially linked to the issue of an old honor killing dispute between Sawand and the Sundrani tribe, but Ajmal Sawand was killed for his refusal to pay extortion money,” Tariq said, “our family is highly educated and all of our members are settled in Sukkur.”