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$10,000 reward offered in imam slaying in New York
NEW YORK: A Muslim advocacy group on Monday plans to announce a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest of the gunman who killed a New York mosque leader
NEW YORK: A Muslim advocacy group on Monday plans to announce a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest of the gunman who killed a New York mosque leader and his associate as the families of the slain men make funeral arrangements and continue their quest for answers in the shooting.
Imam Maulama Alauddin Akonjee, 55, and Thara Uddin, 64, were both shot in the head near the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque in the Ozone Park neighbourhood of Queens as they left afternoon prayers on Saturday in their traditional religious attire.
“He always wants peace,” Akonjee’s son, Naim Akonjee, 21, said of his father through tears. “Why did they kill my father?”
Another son, Foyez Uddin, who isn’t related to the other victim, said in Bangladesh that his father and mother had booked flights for August 31 to visit Akonjee’s mother. The son said the family is discussing funeral plans. He said they “cannot believe he is no more,” call the loss “irreparable.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, planned to announce on Monday a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the shooter.
Police said they have not yet determined a motive for the killings, but some in the Bangladeshi Muslim community served by the mosque worry it could be a hate crime.
