London: The son of a respected Bangladeshi-origin imam murdered by supporters of the dreaded Islamic State group fears terrorist sympathisers are radicalising youngsters in Britain by posing as charitable workers.
Saleh al-Arif spoke out after Mohammed Syeedy, 21, was jailed for 24 years for the murder of his father, 71-year-old alal Uddin, who was bludgeoned to death in a children's playground in February.
"I spoke to some members of the community. They are really worried about ISIS supporters. They believe there are a lot of supporters in the Bengali community. From the outside, it's like they are doing something good, charitable work and other things," Arif told 'Sky News'.
"They believe they are just trying to make a good impression and they are radicalising the young people in the community and they simply don't want to see that. They are very scared and they believe they have some kind of link with ISIS. They just want to get rid of it and they want help from the police," he said.
Uddin was murdered by Syeedy and Mohammed Abdul Kadir, 24, because the elderly scholar practised a form of Islamic healing called Ruqya, which is denounced as black magic by ISIS and some hardline Salafi Muslims.
The murder trial at Manchester Crown Court heard that Syeedy, Kadir and their friends surveilled Uddin for 18 months before he was murdered on February 18.
Kadir is being sought by police after flying to Istanbul, Turkey, three days after the killing.
"He was very religious, very peaceful and very knowledgable. He had no political views but he had strong religious views and what he believed he tried to practise it to the death," Uddin's son said.
In a victim impact statement read to court on Friday, Arif said his father told him two days before he was killed that he planned to return to Bangladesh later this year for the first time in 15 years.
Uddin had not seen his wife, children or grandchildren since he left Bangladesh for Britain in 2002.
