Man arrested over murder of New York imam
NEW YORK: A New York man has been charged with second-degree murder in the deaths of a New York Muslim imam and his assistant, who were gunned down at the weekend, a police spokesman said.
The charges against Oscar Morel, 35, of Brooklyn, came just hours after hundreds of mourners gathered for the outdoor funeral of the two men. The killings in the borough of Queens had shocked the neighbourhood’s Bangladeshi community.
Morel was charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Imam Maulama Akonjee, 55, and Thara Uddin, 64, the police spokesman said.
He also was charged with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. The spokesman did not disclose any possible motive for the shooting.
Morel had been questioned by police following his arrest on charges related to a hit-and-run traffic accident on Saturday, the day of the shootings.
Akonjee and Uddin were shot in the head at close range after Saturday prayers at the Al-Furqan Jame Mosque in Queens’ Ozone Park section. Police told a briefing before the charges were announced that a suspect being questioned was an Hispanic man from Brooklyn.
Police said there was still no known connection between the man being questioned and the murder victims.
Badrul Khan, founder of Ozone Park’s Al-Furqan Jame Mosque, said he had known Akonjee for a long time. The 55-year-old cleric, a father of seven, emigrated to the US from Bangladesh several years ago, he said.
Police say the gunman stalked the men, who were dressed in religious garb, as they left Al-Furqan and then shot them point-blank in the heads before fleeing.
Residents said the imam was a “nice, decent” man of strong faith. – Reuters