Bangladeshi shot dead for failing to make prayer call
A Saudi muezzin on Sunday opened fire at two expatriate workers in a mosque here, killing one and injuring the other, according to the police.
The incident took place at 3:30 p.m. during Asr prayers in a mosque in Ortawwiyah in the Majmaah district, 30 km from the Riyadh city center.
When police arrived at the scene, in response to a call from a citizen, they found Mohammed Rafiq Tajul Islam, 32, a Bangladeshi worker, in a pool of blood.
The other worker, an Indian, was alive with two gunshot wounds. He is undergoing treatment at King Khaled Hospital in Majmaah. The police have not released his name and said he is out of danger.
Sources from the Ortawwiyah area said the Bangladeshi used to make the call for prayer for the muezzin. On the day of the incident, the worker had failed to make the call on time, which infuriated the muezzin, they claimed.
Labor Counselor of the Bangladesh Embassy Mohamed Sarwar Alam told Arab News on Wednesday that the deceased had been working at the mosque for some time. He was from Kholapara in Shariatpur district, 55 km from the capital Dhaka.
He said the embassy’s legal team is sorting out the paperwork of the deceased and had informed his family about the tragedy.
The police arrested the murder accused. According to the police, the perpetrator is a psychiatric patient at a nearby hospital. However, investigations are continuing.