Man on murder charge over 'execution' of New York imam

Gunned down: Imam Maulama Akonjee
AP
Michael Howie16 August 2016
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Police have charged a man with murder over the execution-style shooting of an imam and his aide as they left a New York City mosque.

Oscar Morel, 35, was arrested after police linked him to a hit-and-run crash that happened about a mile from the killing of Imam Maulana Alauddin Akonjee and Thara Uddin.

NYPD chief of detectives Robert Boyce said Morel was detained on Sunday night and has now been charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.

Mr Akonjee, 55, and Mr Uddin, 64, were shot in the head as they walked after prayers in the borough of Queens on Saturday. A surveillance video had shown the suspect fleeing in a black SUV, Mr Boyce said.

About 10 minutes later, a car matching that description struck a cyclist three miles away in Brooklyn.

Morel was arrested outside a flat in Brooklyn on Sunday after he intentionally rammed his car into an unmarked police cruiser trying to block him in, police said. They allegedly recovered a revolver at his home and clothes similar to those being worn in CCTV footage of the gunman.

Earlier yesterday about 1,000 people gathered under tents to praise Mr Akonjee and Mr Uddin at an Islamic funeral service.

Several speakers said they believed the victims were targeted because of their religion. Some members of the congregation shouted “justice” throughout the service.

After the ceremony, part of the crowd marched to the spot where the shooting took place. Mayor Bill de Blasio told those there the entire city was “mourning with you”.

Morel’s brother Alvin told the New York Daily News he was stunned by the arrest. “This is nothing like him. My brother is a decent person,” he said.

In Bangladesh, the imam’s eldest son Fayez Uddin Akonjee, 28, said he was relieved at the charges. “We want to know as victims why he killed my father,” he said.

The authorities have not revealed a motive for the killings, though Mr Boyce said the possibility that the murders were a hate crime is “certainly on the table”.

Some in the largely Bangladeshi Muslim community in Queens and Brooklyn have described harassment in recent months by people who shouted anti-Muslim slogans.

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