NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate on Monday conducted searches against Nashik-based self-styled godman Ashok Kharat and his associates in connection with a multi-crore racket involving religious fraud, extortion, and drug-facilitated sexual assault.
“The raids were carried out under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002,” said agency officials.
As part of the probe, the agency conducted raids across multiple locations, five in Nashik, three in Pune, and three in Shirdi, targeting premises linked to Kharat’s trusts and his close associates, including a chartered accountant.
The agency has registered a case against Ashok Kharat to probe his financial transactions, based on an extortion FIR filed in Nashik in which a real estate businessman alleged he was forced to pay around Rs 5 crore between 2018 and 2019.
The businessman also alleged that he transferred ownership of his luxury car to Kharat. Earlier, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the Enforcement Directorate had taken cognisance of the case and was investigating Kharat.
Kharat was allegedly sexually exploiting women by claiming to be a “divine incarnation.” Earlier, Fadnavis, who also holds the Home Department portfolio, received a complaint about it, after which he instructed the Nashik Police Commissioner to take action against Kharat and others involved in the offence.
The preliminary enquiries revealed that Kharat had opened various bank accounts with two cooperative credit societies based out of Nashik in the names of different third parties. However, he stood as the nominee for all those bank accounts and had linked his mobile number to them to exercise control over their operations.
“It is also gathered during preliminary enquiries that he sold common items as blessed items by claiming they possessed divine healing powers. The money so collected from the victims and through the extortion operations has been invested in various lands through his chartered accountant, Prakash Pophale, and his sons,” the agency said.
The residential and commercial premises linked to Kharat, Pophale, and other relatives, as well as the respective branches of the cooperative credit societies, are also being covered, the agency said.
Kharat was arrested in the case recently, and several photos later surfaced on social media showing senior ministers and politicians of the ruling party visiting him or performing rituals with him. It was also alleged that senior leaders procured ‘Oshno Jal’ from him.
The local police also accessed call detail records (CDR), wherein it was found that calls were made to senior politicians, raising questions about their association.