The death of Tera Mia, along with the imam of a mosque in New York’s Ozone Park in the US, came as a shock to his neighbours and friends in his village in Sylhet. A man gunned down the duo yesterday. The villagers knew him as a quiet, gentle, good-hearted man who migrated to the US four-and-a-half years ago. He was living in New York with two of his four daughters and a son. He would reportedly spend most of the time in the Forqan mosque. He had no enemies.
The killer struck when he was coming out of the mosque with Imam Maulana Alauddin Akhunji after Zohr prayers on Saturday. He had last visited his village Jangalhata in Golapganj upazila in February 2015. He had expressed a desire to be buried in his village if he died abroad. His son-in-law Imran Hossain Shahin told reporters that his body was likely to be brought home for burial as he had wished. Mahmud Ahmed, chairman of Lakkhipasha union parishad (UP) of Golapganj, remarked that it was not acceptable that a man should be shot dead in broad daylight in a civilised country like the US. He demanded punishment for the killer after a proper inquiry.