Murder of mosque elder blamed on 'enemy within'

At the Forest Gate mosque yesterday, the talk, what little there was of it, was of the "enemy within".

"We are all too frightened to speak, as the people who did this could be listening. Women are too frightened to let their husbands go to the mosque," said one worshipper.

The source of the fear, a hate letter campaign, death threats and acts of hooliganism culminating in the murder of a respected elder, stabbed in the doorway of his terraced home in front of his terrified seven-year-old daughter, is eating away at this tightly-knit east London community.

Salik Choudhury, 64, a Bangladeshi who has lived in the area since emigrating to Britain in 1966, died on Sunday. A man, described by police as black, was seen running away.

Scotland Yard yesterday confirmed it was linking the murder investigation with a series of incidents at the mosque which Mr Choudhury helped to found 12 years ago.

Six incidents had been reported to police before the attack, including the sending of threatening letters to committee members such as Mr Choudhury.

A source at the mosque, which 300 people attend every Friday, said the trouble began in September last year with an argument between a group of worshippers and the main body of the congregation.

In the months before Sunday's tragedy, one man has been beaten up in the mosque, the window of a committee member broken and the tyres of a car slashed.

Police have been called to remove what worshippers describe as a gang of Bengali upstarts, some of whom are believed to live within the community, while others are said to come from outside with the apparent aim of taking over the mosque's committee group.

Yesterday, Jamal Choudhury said the murder of his father had been a devastating shock, despite his having received threatening mail in March.

Jamal, 23, who lived with his father, said his family were grieved and puzzled by the murder of a man who had been a pillar of the community with no apparent enemies.

"My father wanted to advance all aspects of our community and do good for people. I cannot understand how that could result in the terrible way that it has," he added.

Jamal said his father, who had owned a leather company until his retirement 10 years ago, had been undeterred by the letters. "He brushed the threats aside and didn't let them trouble him. In fact, it made him more determined to do what he was doing."

Mr Choudhury also spoke of the trauma caused to his seven-year-old sister and his eight-year-old nephew, who both witnessed the stabbing.

"Day by day, what has happened is sinking in for them, and I don't look forward to the day when it does," he said.

However Mr Choudhury urged the community – both Muslim and non-Muslim – not to panic over the attack or live in a state of fear.

Despite his words, committee members at the mosque yesterday confirmed they had received death threats.

The mosque's chairman, Giashuddin Ahmed, 60, and the general secretary, Mukrisur Rahman, also 60, claimed they had both received threats in two separate letters.

"The letters were hand-written in Bengali and said they would put a £6,000 or £7,000 price on our heads if we did not leave the mosque," Mr Rahman said.

Yesterday Scotland Yard released a fresh description of the suspect, who is black, aged between 16 to 20 and of slim build. He was wearing a black, crew-neck jumper, dark-coloured trousers and shoes and a white gold hoop earring in his right ear at the scene of attack.

Despite the cold weekend weather, he was not wearing a coat. He left the scene after stabbing Mr Choudhury in the stomach, and fled clutching an object to his chest.

A police spokeswoman said Mr Choudhury's daughter had refused the suspect entry into the home and an argument followed.

Mr Choudhury died at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel at 7.40pm on Sunday.