Hyderabad: Police, on Monday, arrested Fareed Ahmed Khan, the chief qazi of Mumbai, in relation to the case of Omani national Al-Rahbi Ahmed Abdullah who married a minor girl from the Old City five months ago.
During the investigation it was discovered that the Omani national was able to obtain a visa for the girl on the basis of the marriage certificate issued by the said qazi and subsequently took her to Muscat.
As reported by DC, because it is difficult for a foreign national to be issued a marriage certificate locally, the certificate had been arranged from Mumbai.
After a raid on the office of qazi and examining the records seized by the police, it was revealed that the qazi had issued certificates to several foreign nationals, especially people from Gulf countries. He issued certificates for marriages performed in Odisha, Karnataka and other states.
According to police the qazi reportedly worked in collusion with brokers for the facilitation of contract marriages and charged lakhs of rupees for issuing marriage certificates.
Meanwhile raids are being carried out at lodges and hotels in the city to nab foreign nationals who have come to the city for such marriages.