RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM: Mohammed Farooq, the 61-year-old moazzen of a mosque at Battinanagar under Lalacheruvu Panchayat in Rajamahendravaram was found murdered in the wee hours of Friday, sending shock waves through the town. It is learnt that the victim was involved in a property dispute back home in Bihar.
On hearing the news, many local Muslims and community leaders reached the mosque and started agitating on the NH-16.
As a result, the traffic came to a halt on the highway towards Rajanagaram and Vemagiri up to a stretch of 10 km on both sides. Superintendent of Police (Urban) B Rajakumari reached the spot and inspected the scene of crime.
Police suspect that the murder might have occurred in the wee hours of Friday. Farooq, who hailed from Bihar, took up job as assistant to the imam of Noorani Mosque at Battinanagar three months back and made the mosque his home. As per the initial clues gathered by the police, Farooq was hit on the head with a log resulting in his instant death. Since it was Friday, some local devotees came to the mosque for early prayers and found Farooq lying in a pool of blood. They informed the police immediately. The news of the murder spread quickly in the city.
Police pressed into service sniffer dogs and clues team. The team collected finger prints from the log used to hit Farooq. The body was later sent to a government hospital for post-mortem. SP Rajakumari told mediapersons that the police would not spare any efforts in nabbing the culprits.
Sec 144 imposed
The crowd that gathered at the murder spot grew restless even though police assured them that the culprits would be nabbed soon. Police imposed section 144 in that area.