New York:Police in New York searching for a man who shot dead the leader of a mosque and his assistant have released a sketch of the suspect.
\nThe imam, father-of-seven Maulama Akonjee (55) and Thara Uddin (64) were shot in the head as they left the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque in the Ozone Park section of Queens shortly before 2pm on Saturday. Both men were later pronounced dead.
\nThe gunman approached the men from behind and shot both in the head at close range shortly before 2pm local time on a blistering hot afternoon in the Ozone Park neighborhood, police said in a statement, adding that no arrests had been made.
\nThe motive for the shooting was not immediately known and no evidence has been uncovered that the two men were targeted because of their faith, said Tiffany Phillips, a spokeswoman for the New York City police department. Even so, police were not ruling out any possibility, she added.
\nThe victims were both wearing religious garb at the time of shooting, police said.
\nThe Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group known by the acronym CAIR, said Mr Uddin was an associate of the imam.
\n\u201cThese were two very beloved people,\u201d Afaf Nasher, executive director of the New York chapter of CAIR, told Reuters. \u201cThese were community leaders.
\n\u201cThere is a deep sense of mourning and an overwhelming cry for justice to be served,\u201d Nasher said. \u201cThere is a very loud cry, too, for the NYPD to investigate fully, with the total amount of their resources, the incident that happened today.\u201d
\nThe organisation held a news conference on Saturday evening in front of the mosque, the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid, where the two men had prayed.
\n\u201cWe are calling for all people, of all faiths, to rally with compassion and with a sense of vigilance so that justice can be served,\u201d Mr Nasher said. \u201cYou can\u2019t go up to a person and shoot them in the head and not be motivated by hatred.\u201d
\nThe suspect was seen by witnesses fleeing the scene with a gun in his hand, police said.
\n\u201cWe are currently conducting an extensive canvass of the area for video and additional witnesses,\u201d deputy inspector Henry Sautner said in a statement.
\nEric Phillips, a press secretary for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, said the mayor was closely monitoring the police investigation into the shootings.
\n\u201cWhile it is too early to tell what led to these murders, it is certain that the NYPD will stop at nothing to ensure justice is served,\u201d Phillips said in a statement.
\nMr Akonjee was described as a peaceful man who was beloved within Ozone Park\u2019s large Muslim community.
\n\u201cHe would not hurt a fly,\u201d his nephew Rahi Majid (26) told the New York Daily News. \u201cYou would watch him come down the street and watch the peace he brings.\u201d
\n\u201cWe feel really insecure and unsafe in a moment like this,\u201d Millat Uddin, an Ozone Park resident told CBS television in New York. \u201cIt\u2019s really threatening to us, threatening to our future, threatening to our mobility in our neighborhood, and we\u2019re looking for the justice.\u201d
\nIn June, CAIR issued a statement calling for Muslim community leaders to consider increasing security after the Orlando massacre and incidents that it said had targeted Muslims and Islamic houses of worship.
\nA gunman who called himself an \u201cIslamic soldier\u201d killed 49 people in an Orlando, Florida, nightclub on June 12th.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New York:Police in New York searching for a man who shot dead the leader of a mosque and his assistant have released a sketch of the suspect. The imam, father-of-seven Maulama Akonjee (55) and Thara Uddin (64) were shot in the head as they left the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque in the Ozone Park section […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1335,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n