Mangaluru : Dr B. Ahmed Hajee Mohiudeen, 86, entrepreneur, philanthropist, educationist and the founder chairman of BA Group, Thumbay, passed away on Sunday at a private hospital in Mangaluru after a brief period of illness.

Ahmed Hajee, born in 1933 to B. Mohiudeen Hajee and Mariamma in a business family, graduated in commerce in 1954 and began his career soon after as a small scale industrialist in a village called Thumbay on the outskirts of Mangaluru.

He founded the BA Group, in 1957. From a fledgling company in the 1960s, the BA Group is now on the threshold of rapid expansion into areas such as urban housing, education, real estate, healthcare and exports and imports.

Ahmed Hajee, who was married to Befathima Ahmed Hajee, is survived by three sons – Thumbay Moideen (founder president of Thumbay Group, headquartered at Ajman, UAE), B Abdul Salam (Managing Director & CEO – BA Group), B M Ashraf and his daughter Shabana Faizal (co-founder and Vice Chairperson of Kef Holdings).

Mohiudeen Educational Trust has been playing a vital role in the promotion of education by sponsoring a number of educational institutions such as BA Industrial Training and Technical Centre, a Kannada and English medium school, a pre-university college, a nursery school, and Darul Uloom Mohiudeen Arabic College.

Ahmed Hajee is also the founder president of a number of institutions and trusts in Mangalore and the surrounding areas. He is the president of the 80-year-old Badriya Educational Institutions at Mangaluru. He is also the president of Nav Bharat Night High School, which was established before India’s independence. He is one of the Trustees of Islamic Academy of Education, under Yenepoya Group.

According to former Karnataka minister U T Khader, the mortal remains of Dr. Ahmed Hajee will be kept at Thumbay PU College for the public to pay their tribute. Funeral will be held at Thumbay Masjid burial ground on Sunday.