Mangaluru: A mass wedding ceremony for nine girls was organized today at Bolar Shadi Mahal by the Haji Karkala Shaikh Sabu Sahib Memorial Trust (Regd.), Barke, Mangaluru.

The event was presided over by the trust’s president, former Member of the Legislative Council (MLC), and former chairman of the Karnataka State Minority Commission, K.S. Muhammad Masood. Speaking on the occasion, he said, “This wedding event has been organized with special efforts by my brother, businessman, and chairman of Dubai’s Nash Group of Companies, K.S. Nisar Ahmad Karkala. Unfortunately, due to unavoidable circumstances, he could not be present today, but he has sent his heartfelt blessings to the newlywed couples. I personally, along with the trust, extend my best wishes to all the newlyweds.”

The Nikah ceremony was led by Dakshina Kannada District Qazi, Alhaj Twaka Ahmed Musliyar, and the Qazi of Kudroli Jamia Masjid, Maulana Shaikh Muthahar Hussain Kasmi.

The event was inaugurated by Yenepoya University Chancellor, Dr. Yenepoya Abdullah Kunhi, who praised the initiative, saying, “This simple yet significant wedding ceremony, held under the leadership of Muhammad Masood in the name of his father, is a great service to the community. It serves as an example for other organizations. May these nine newlywed couples have a blessed and prosperous married life.”

The event was graced by trustees, including Haji K.S. Fazlurrahman, Muhammad Asif Masood, former Mayor K. Ashraf, C. Mahmood Haji, Shahul Hameed Thangal, and Riyaz Faizi, among others.

Trustee Haji K.S. Imtiyaz Ahmad Karkala provided insights into the trust’s mission and objectives. The trust’s general secretary, Dr. Muhammad Arif Masood, delivered the welcome address, while Maulana Zubair recited the Quranic verses (Qira’at).

The event was compered by the general secretary of the Muslim Central Committee, Muhammad Hanif Mangaluru.

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Raipur (PTI): The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has attached properties of Rs 4 crore belonging to suspended IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi, an accused in a coal levy scam, for allegedly amassing assets beyond his known sources of income, officials said.

The EOW had registered a disproportionate assets case against Vishnoi in July 2024, an official release said on Saturday.

During the investigation, the agency identified nine immovable properties, valued at around Rs 4 crore, allegedly acquired through illicit means in the names of Vishnoi’s family members and associated firms, it said.

“An application seeking attachment of these properties was filed before the Special Court under the Prevention of Corruption Act in Raipur. Following a hearing on April 17, the court ordered attachment of all such properties,” the statement said.

Accordingly, the Anti-Corruption Bureau/Economic Offences Wing attached the properties. The attached properties cannot be sold or transferred, it said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had earlier provisionally attached five immovable properties linked to Vishnoi in connection with the coal levy scam, it added.

Proceedings are also underway in cases involving other public servants, including action taken in September last year against properties linked to Saumya Chaurasia, who was deputy secretary in the chief minister’s office during the Congress government, the statement said.

Vishnoi, a 2009-batch Indian Administrative Service officer, was first arrested in 2022 by the ED in connection with the alleged coal levy scam. He was among several accused who were granted bail last year by the Supreme Court.

The case refers to an alleged Rs 540 crore racket between July 2020 and June 2022, when an illegal levy of Rs 25 per tonne was being extorted by a cartel involving senior bureaucrats, businessmen, politicians and middlemen for every tonne of coal transported in the state.