Nashik (Maharashtra), Mar 28 (PTI) Two more cases have been registered against self-styled godman Ashok Kharat, police said on Saturday, adding that the Special Investigation Team which conducting a probe against him has received more than 100 complaints over phone.
With this, a total of ten FIRs, eight for alleged sexual assault or exploitation and two for cheating, have been registered against Kharat at Sarkarwada police station in the city.
Kharat, who was visited by several prominent Maharashtra politicians over the years, was arrested on March 18 after a woman alleged that he had repeatedly raped her for three years.
On Friday, another FIR was registered against him on a complaint filed by a woman, officials said.
The woman met Kharat for guidance as her relations with the husband were strained and the family was having financial troubles, she told police.
Kharat allegedly told her that she would have to do his every bidding if she wanted a solution to her problems, and sexually exploited her between March 2022 to 2024.
The second FIR registered on Friday was based on a cheating complaint filed by Rajendra Bhagwat, a cloth merchant from Nevasa.
He wanted his business to do well and met Kharat on a relative’s advice, Bhagwat told police.
Kharat allegedly took a gold ring and a few gemstones from him and gave him a ring and a gemstone in return, asking him to wear them.
As per Bhagwat, he paid Rs 2.62 lakh for this, but later realised that the ring and gemstone given by Kharat were fake, and he had been duped.
The SIT, which has published two phone numbers for those who want to give any information about Kharat’s criminal activities, has received more than 100 complaints in the last five days, most of them from women, a police official said.
But very few of them are coming forward to lodge written complaints, he added.
Kharat is also suspected to be involved in a Hawala racket, the official said. PTI COR KRK
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