A 21-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy have been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the death of an imam in Rochdale, the Guardian reports.
Jalal Uddin, 56, was found with serious head injuries in a children’s playground on Thursday night and died shortly afterwards.
It’s thought the imam was on his way home from dinner at a friend’s house after attending isha prayers at the Jalalia Jamé mosque in Trafalgar Street.
He was assaulted between 8.41pm and 8.55pm and police are appealing to the public for any information.
Investigating officers arrested the man and boy in Rochdale on suspicion of murder shortly after 9.40am on Monday, and seized a Vauxhall Astra. Both suspects remain in custody for questioning.
DCI Terry Crompton, of the force’s serious crime division, said on Monday: “Our investigation is continuing at a quick pace and we have carried out a significant number of inquiries since the tragic events of last Thursday to establish what happened to Jalal.
“We have got two people in custody and I hope these arrests, along with the police activity on Ramsey Street today will reassure the public of just how serious we are taking this investigation.
“We are continuing to appeal for anyone with information to come forward and, following extensive analysis of CCTV, we now know that Jalal walked into the park from the South Street entrance at 8.41pm before he was then found injured seven minutes later by a member of the public.
“We are keen to speak to anyone who saw anything suspicious in the South Street area around this time, no matter how big or small you believe it may be.”
Detectives have said they are keeping an open mind about the motive for the attack, but racism has not been ruled out. Religious leaders last week called for calm and for residents to not speculate about what prompted the attack.
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