Police detain suspect in NY double murder

New York City police yesterday detained a possible suspect in the murder of a Bangladeshi imam and his assistant.

The detainee was being questioned by police. However, he has not been charged, reports NBC citing unnamed sources.

Alauddin Akonjee, 55, imam of Al-Furqan Jame Mosque in Ozone Park, and his assistant Tara Uddin, 64, were shot dead by a gunman on Saturday when they left prayers at the mosque.

Alauddin of Habiganj had left for the USA six years ago to stay with four of his sons living there. Tara Uddin of Sylhet along with his wife and children went to the USA four and a half years back to settle there.

The killing of the two sowed fear and sadness in the Bangladeshi community in Ozone Park, a diverse and largely working-class area that is home to a growing number of Muslims of Bangladeshi descent.

On Sunday, police searched for the gunman and released a sketch of the male suspect with dark hair, a beard and glasses. Law enforcers described him as having a medium complexion and appeared to be in his 30s or 40s. The NBC reported the man being questioned matched the description.

Cops were yet to establish a motive and said there was no evidence the men were targeted because of their faith, but nothing was being ruled out.

“While we do not yet know the motivation for the murders of Maulana Akonjee and Tara Uddin, we do know that our Muslim communities are in the perpetual crosshairs of bigotry,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement.

“Rest assured that our NYPD will bring this killer to justice,” he added.

According to a report of New York Times, Akonjee was carrying $1,000 with him at the time of the attack, but the money was not taken.

The shooting appeared to be the most violent attack against local Muslim leaders in recent years, said Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

A report by the CAIR and the University of California at Berkeley said the number of recorded incidents in which mosques were targeted jumped to 78 in last year, the highest since 2009.

Hooper said he could recall incidents in which an imam was pushed, called names or otherwise harassed. “Things like that, but nothing of this nature, nothing where people were killed,” he added.

CAIR said it was offering a $10,000 reward for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of the shooter.

The killings have been deeply unsettling for the neighborhood and left many worshippers grieving but also fearful.

Anowar Miah, who moved to the US from Bangladesh as a child and saw the political climate intensify, said it has gotten infinitely worse this election.

“We're targets now. Our kids are growing up in this environment now -- they're scared to live as Muslims,” he told New York Times.

Rokeya Akhter of Jamaica said women are especially fearful because they wear the head scarf.

“We've been trying to go outside less and avoid the dark or empty places, but this was in the middle of a busy street during the day. It makes you feel like nowhere is safe,” she noted.