Mumbai, Mar 26 (PTI) Two persons were arrested in Ahilyanagar and six booked in Nashik in Maharashtra for allegedly circulating obscene videos of the women victims of self-styled godman Ashok Kharat on social media, police said on Thursday.
Kharat was held on March 18 for allegedly raping a woman repeatedly for the past three years. A probe into the case has uncovered several videos of him exploiting women.
After some of these videos were spotted on social media, including Whatsapp groups, by the SIT probing the case, action was taken, the official said.
He said Rahul Gangadhar Shinde, a resident of Kopargaon in Ahilyanagar, shared a video of one of the victims on a Whatsapp group on March 25, which was then forwarded by one Yogesh Pandharinath Aadhav, also of Kopargaon, to his friend Sandip Garje of Majalgaon in Beed.
Kopargaon police station registered a case under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Information Technology Act and arrested Shinde and Aadhav, while efforts are on to nab Garje, the official said.
Confirming the arrests, Ahilyanagar Superintendent of Police Somnath Ghughe warned that anyone circulating such objectionable videos, including social media group administrators, would face immediate arrest and further legal action.
In Nashik, six persons were booked for circulating such videos.
A Satpur police station official identified those booked as Siddharth Ramoshe, Rameez Shaikh, Rahul Pawar, Pravin Kate, Rahul Hiwale and Sahil Sayyad. Efforts are on to arrest them, he added.
Meanwhile, IPS officer Tejaswi Satpute, heading the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the Kharat case, appealed to citizens, news channels, journalists and social media users not to share, forward or publish any form of videos of victims.
The SIT is probing at least six cases linked to Kharat, including those connected to rape, human sacrifice and black magic. PTI DC COR BNM
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