LONDON, Oct 8 — Police said they had arrested a second man in a probe into suspected arson at a mosque in southern England, which is being treated as a “hate crime”.
“Sussex police takes a zero-tolerance approach to hate crime,” Superintendent Rachel Swinney said in a statement late yesterday.
No one was injured in Saturday’s blaze in the seaside town of Peacehaven, which damaged the mosque’s front entrance and a vehicle parked outside.
The force announced that a 25-year-old man had been arrested Tuesday on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life, and was in custody.
The first man, 46, who was arrested on Monday, has been released on conditional bail while the investigation continues.
The fire followed an attack on Thursday on a synagogue in the northern city of Manchester in which two people died and three others were seriously injured, with officers drawing a potential link to Islamist extremism.
The police have renewed a plea for information about the Peacehaven incident.
“We believe there are people in the community who know who is responsible for this appalling and reckless attack,” said Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cullimore. — AFP
