NY cops hunt killer of imam, friend
NEW YORK CITY—Police in New York City are searching for the man who fatally shot the leader of a mosque and a friend as they left afternoon prayers, setting off fear and anguish among the community’s Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants.
Although police said no motive had been established in the killing of Imam Maulama Akonjee, 55, and 64-year-old Thara Uddin on Saturday afternoon near the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid, community members are worried the slayings could be rooted in intolerance.
“There’s nothing in the preliminary investigation to indicate they were targeted because of their faith,” said Deputy Insp. Henry Sautner of the New York Police Department.
The imam’s daughter, Naima Akonjee, said her father—described by worshippers as a pious man who gave compelling Koran readings—didn’t “have any problems with anyone.”
She said the imam and Uddin were close friends who always walked together to the mosque from their homes on the same street.
Police said the men were shot in the head as they left the mosque in the Ozone Park section of Queens shortly before 2 p.m. They later were pronounced dead.
Sautner said video surveillance showed they were approached from behind by a man in a dark polo shirt and shorts who shot them and then fled with the gun still in his hand.