Man arrested for matrimonial fraud after multiple marriage scams in K'taka
Mangaluru (Karnataka) (PTI): A 32-year-old man was arrested for allegedly cheating women through online matrimonial platforms by promising marriage and collecting money before disappearing, police said on Tuesday.
The accused, identified as Sushanth Poojary alias Sushanth Ankush Poojary alias Sushanth G Karkera, allegedly befriended a woman through an online matrimonial portal and married her in Navi Mumbai on February 2, 2025, they said.
Police said he subsequently collected Rs 6.6 lakh from her in instalments and went missing on November 15, 2025, raising suspicion.
According to police, when the complainant made further inquiries, she discovered that the accused had allegedly deceived multiple women in a similar manner and had concealed an earlier marriage.
Based on her complaint, Kavoor police registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Police traced and arrested the accused on February 5.
During interrogation, the accused is said to have admitted to marrying a woman in Udupi in 2021 and cheating several others across Karnataka and Maharashtra by promising marriage, a senior police officer said.
Investigators said he allegedly duped two women each in Udupi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, and another woman in Karkala using the same method.
Police also arrested his accomplice, a resident of Mulki near Mangaluru- Bhaskar, who allegedly posed as the accused's relative to convince the complainant's family and participated in wedding rituals in Mumbai.
Both men were produced before a court, which remanded them to judicial custody.
Authorities added that Poojary has prior cases registered against him, including for cheating and theft in Karnataka and serious offences in Maharashtra under IPC, Immoral Trafficking Act and POCSO provisions.
Mangaluru city Police are investigating.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
India is the place for large-scale organic production, says Commerce Secretary
Nuremberg (PTI): India is the place for large-scale organic production and the country is keen to collaborate with the EU to strengthen this ecosystem to cater to rising demands, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said here on Tuesday.
Agrawal also said that India's organic products exports have grown threefold over the last 10 years, and the government now aims to triple them again over the next five years.
"India is the place" to serve the world as a good organic food basket, he said, adding that India has 150.3 million hectares of agricultural land under cultivation.
He said that the organic ecosystem is growing very fast in the country, as today, 3 per cent of India's cultivation is organic.
In India, 4.7 million hectares of land is under organic cultivation, with 2.4 million farmers practising it, and it is only increasing by the day, he said.
The Secretary was speaking at the inauguration of Biofach 2026. About 100 exhibitors from 20 Indian states, including Assam, Meghalaya, and Kerala, are here to showcase their organic food products at the world's leading trade fair Biofach show (February 10-13).
He informed that India is emerging as a credible supplier of organic food, both within India and outside.
"I see this happening in a much faster manner. So if world needs the state for organic production, I think India is the place, and we like to work with all of you to see how we can improve the Indian organic food ecosystem to serve both the Indian rising demand within India and also the rising demand in two of our biggest markets," he said.
He called for creating credibility around organic foods. There is a need to ensure trust and credibility around the certification of these products.
India started with the national programme for organic production way back in 2001 and that was designed to adopt the international standards of organic goods.
"And now we are bringing in cooperatives in a big way," he said, adding that cooperatives can bring in and aggregate farmers to create good, viable organic ecosystem in various villages across the country.
