Are govt officers linked to Nashik godman Ashok Kharat case? CM Fadnavis says angle under probe

The CM said that Kharat would tell victims he was Krishna and Mahadev, and that he possessed an aura and that establishing sexual relations with him made the women “pure”. He made women drink his urine, Fadnavis said, adding that reports also suggest Kharat indulged in human sacrifice and black magic as well.

Maharashtra Police have tracked and established the identity of six women who fell prey to Kharat. Of these, five women and the husband of one victim filed complaints. Based on these, Kharat was arrested by the Nashik Crime Branch on March 17.

Getting victims to come forward was a daunting task for the police, who first had to take families into confidence and counsel them, Fadnavis said, adding that police are still trying to trace other women Kharat may have abused.

Police issued a lookout circular and alerted airport authorities to prevent him from leaving the country, the CM said, promising to take the investigation to its logical end. However, Fadnavis sidestepped questions about politicians whose photographs with Kharat are circulating on social media. “Mere photo cannot invite action. If links are established, action will be taken. Nobody will be spared,” he said.

The scandal first surfaced on December 29, 2025, when Kharat himself filed an FIR at Vavi police station alleging he was being blackmailed using objectionable photos and videos, on demand of Rs 5 crore. In February 2026, a former staffer of Kharat was booked at Shirdi police station for allegedly creating morphed obscene images and issuing threats. It was in the course of these investigations that police began to uncover the scale of exploitation behind the godman’s façade.

It was the same former staffer booked in February 2026 who later came forward with crucial evidence.

After learning that Kharat had sexually assaulted a pregnant woman known to him during a ritual visit, the staffer secretly installed a camera inside Kharat’s office cabin. The footage he gathered on a pen drive, which he handed to police, allegedly shows women being given substances and Kharat engaging in inappropriate acts with them. More than 100 video clips have been recovered.

The former staffer’s complaint also revealed a parallel financial racket in which tamarind seeds were cleaned and polished to resemble gemstones and sold as “energised” stones for amounts ranging from thousands to lakhs of rupees. Money from clients was allegedly routed through a temple trust and personal accounts to launder unaccounted funds.

The state government constituted an SIT on March 13, 2026, before the sexual assault complaints had even surfaced publicly. On March 17, a woman approached Sarkarwada police station alleging Kharat had sexually assaulted her repeatedly between 2022 and 2025. He was arrested the same day. The Nashik case was transferred to the SIT on March 18.

Searches were conducted at Kharat’s office, residence, farmhouse and trust. Police seized Rs 6 lakh in cash, a laptop, a DVR, a revolver, live cartridges, fired cartridges and shells. Assets worth Rs 40 crore have been registered so far, including approximately 33 acres of land, a farmhouse, gold, plots across the state and a Pune flat held in his daughter’s name. The probe to identify further assets is ongoing.