Maharashtra’s Special Investigation Team widened its criminal probe into self-styled astrologer Ashok Kharat on Sunday, interrogating key associates and seizing surveillance equipment across three properties. Kharat, a former Merchant Navy officer arrested earlier this week on multiple charges including rape and extortion, is now the subject of a Director General of Police-level inquiry announced by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The investigation escalated following allegations that Kharat and his relatives amassed documents for 52 properties and illegally diverted millions of litres of dam water for personal agricultural use. Local residents in his native village of Mirgaon have launched protests demanding capital punishment, the transfer of temple management, and the immediate seizure of his assets.
Led by IPS officer Tejaswini Satpute, the SIT questioned Pramod Gadakh, the caretaker priest of the Ishaneshwar Mahadev Temple in Mirgaon, along with a local watchman on Sunday. This action followed the seven-hour interrogation of Neeraj Jadhav, a staffer at Kharat’s office, on Saturday.
Investigators secured CCTV digital video recorders from Kharat’s Mirgaon farmhouse, his Tikde Colony bungalow, and his Canada Corner office. State Water Resources Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil also intervened, cancelling a 2020 government order that previously allowed Kharat’s trust to divert 3.9 million litres of water daily from the Darna Dam.
The case has drawn significant attention across the region as more victims interact with law enforcement. Kharat was initially taken into custody on March 18 after a 35-year-old woman filed a complaint at the Sarkarwada police station, alleging repeated sexual assault over a three-year period. Since the initial arrest, at least three additional women have approached the police.
Kharat currently faces charges registered across the Vavi, Shirdi, and Sarkarwada police stations. Authorities have invoked the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Information Technology Act, and the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices Act.