India

Marriage racket busted in Hyderabad, 8 sheikhs arrested

Courtesy Hindustan Times

“The arrested sheikhs hail from Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar”

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad police on Wednesday arrested eight sheikhs and four Muslim clerics for allegedly being part of a marriage racket. The arrested sheikhs hail from Oman and Qatar.

The arrested clerics (qazis) include the chief qazi of Mumbai, Farid Ahmed Khan. Four lodge owners and five brokers from Hyderabad have also been arrested.

The clerics were held on the charges of cheating innocent girls in the name of marriage.

City Police Commissioner M. Mahender Reddy told reporters that the Arab sheikhs were marrying minor girls with the help of brokers, qazis and lodge owners. Of the sheikhs arrested, five are Omani nationals and three Qatari, Hindustan Times reported.

The racket, which was spreading from Hyderabad to Oman and other Arab countries, was busted during the investigation into a case registered last month in Falaknuma area of the old city of Hyderabad, a report in Hindustan Times said.

A woman had complained to the police that her husband with the help of some brokers ‘sold’ their minor daughter to a 70-year-old Omani national named Ahmed Abdullah. According to the report, the girl is still in Oman.

The police chief said efforts were on to rescue the girl and arrest the accused and bring them to Hyderabad.

 

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