Nashik, Mar 18 (PTI) A retired Merchant Navy officer was arrested in Nashik on Wednesday for allegedly raping a woman for over three years, police said.
Accused Ashokkumar Kharat, a self-proclaimed astrologer, had several leaders from Maharashtra politics visit him over the years.
Altogether 58 videos, including some objectionable clips, stored in a pendrive have been recovered from Kharat, who used to call himself “Captain”, police said.
Kharat, who is also the chairman of Shree Ishaneshwar Mahadev Temple Trust at Mirgaon in Sinnar taluka of Nashik district, allegedly sexually assaulted the 35-year-old complainant between November 2022 and December 2025.
Citing the FIR, police said Kharat used to call the woman to his office located in the upscale Canada Corner area in Nashik, claiming his predictions pointed to “threats” to her husband’s life. He would allegedly offer her sedative-laced drinks and rape her.
Kharat has been booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections concerning rape and criminal intimidation, and the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, said officials.
Many politicians and well-known individuals had visited the astrologer in the past.
The then Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde, accompanied by his cabinet colleagues Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and Deepak Kesarkar, had met Kharat at the Mirgaon temple in November 2022.
Rupali Chakankar, current chairperson of the Maharashtra State Commission for Women, had also visited him.
Though 58 video clips stored in a pendrive have been recovered from Kharat, a few are objectionable, said police. Many of the other videos in the pendrive feature Kharat’s interactions with politicians and prominent personalities, they said.
Police said an investigation is underway. PTI COR NR
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.