Murder suspect’s family ‘to be repatriated soon’, Bangladeshi national allegedly kidnapped imam before cutting him into pieces

The family members of the muezzin who is accused of murdering a Bahraini Imam will be repatriated soon, it was learnt. The senior imam at a mosque in Muharraq was kidnapped and cut into pieces and the body was thrown near a scrapyard in Askar, a day after he was reported missing. A Bangladeshi man who was working as a muezzin at the same mosque was arrested in connection with the incident.

Speaking to Tribune, Bangladesh Embassy labour consul Shaikh Tahidul Islam said, “We will cooperate with the investigation process carried out by the Interior Ministry and Public Prosecution.” Mr Islam said the incident was too brutal and the accused was blacklisted by the embassy for selling illegal work permits to expats in the black market. “Steps are being taken to send the family of the accused back home as they are under his sponsorship.” The embassy official said that the incident defamed the whole community in the Kingdom.

“It is our duty to help the family of the accused. They have no clue over continuing their lives in the Kingdom and hence it has been decided to send them back home.” The imam will be buried in Muharraq. His immediate survivors include wife and 10 children. Abdul Jaleel Hamood was a senior Imam at Bin Shiddah Mosque in Muharraq. He went missing in the early hours of Sunday after he had gone to perform Al Fajr prayers (dawn prayers). Unable to contact the imam, his family members alerted the police, which began the hunt of “missing man” in full swing.

The imam’s picture and information were shared on social media by his family members, which went viral instantly. A few hours later the Interior Ministry announced that the imam’s body was found in pieces inside a plastic bag in Al Mazra area near the scrapyard in Askar.