By Tajammul Gurmani
Police (GMP) has arrested the second suspect involved in the Central Mosque Victoria Park incident. While police officers deputed to the mosques during Taraweeh prayers were called back, police continue patrolling as part of the second phase of the security plan.
Speaking to The London Post, Chairman of the mosque committee Hamad Khan said that, according to the latest developments after the Victoria Mosque incident, both suspects have been remanded in custody. One of them has been charged with offences related to carrying weapons. The second suspect has a criminal behaviour order against him, and in breach of that order, both appeared in court last Friday and have been remanded in custody.
Talking about their criminal objectives, he said: “I am not privy to their statements, and I have not asked the police what their objectives were. For us, it is important that they are both off the streets. They will both be in custody, and once sentencing takes place, we will find out whether it was an individual act or whether some group or organisation was behind them. According to the information the police have given us, there are no groups behind them. The police will, however, continue their investigation. With the information currently available, they do not believe that any additional groups are involved.”
Regarding the security measures taken by the mosque committee, he said: “We always have security, which we will step up. We will have a greater number of volunteers present. The police have committed to a high presence around the mosques, especially around the Central Mosque in Manchester. We expect the police to be present, at least visibly, throughout the month of Ramadan and up to after Eid.”
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