New York City police said on Monday they were questioning a man in the killing of a Muslim cleric and his associate as they left prayers at a mosque in the borough of Queens, a crime that shocked their Bangladeshi community.
The man was detained on unrelated circumstances and has not been charged in the killings, a police spokesman said. Earlier, local media, including NBC News and the New York Daily News, said the man was a suspect, citing unnamed police sources.
Police have yet to establish a motive behind Saturday’s murders and have said there was no evidence the men were targeted because of their faith but nothing was being ruled out. Residents demanded authorities treat the brazen daylight shooting as a hate crime.
The gunman stalked the pair from behind and shot both in the head at close range at about 1:50 p.m. in the Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens, one of the city’s five boroughs, police said in a statement. The victims, identified as Imam Maulana Akonjee, 55, and Thara Uddin, 64, were wearing religious garb, police said.
“While we do not yet know the motivation for the murders of Maulana Akonjee and Thara Uddin, we do know that our Muslim communities are in the perpetual crosshairs of bigotry,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. “Rest assured that our NYPD will bring this killer to justice.”
Millat Uddin, 57, an Ozone Park resident not related to the one of the victims, said both men were born in Bangladesh. He said he was close to Akonjee, describing him as a “docile, calm” father of seven who was beloved in the neighborhood.
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 civil rights and advocacy group.
CAIR offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the shooter.

Source: Arab News