The investigation into self-styled Astrologer Kharat takes a chilling turn as SIT lead Tejaswi Satpute reveals the discovery of over 100 videos involving multiple victims.
The scale of the predatory network run by self-styled Astrologer Kharat has shattered initial police estimates. During a high-stakes interrogation session today, Special Investigation Team (SIT) chief Tejaswi Satpute confirmed that the number of seized objectionable videos has climbed from 58 to well over 100. Investigators recovered the additional digital evidence during a second, more intensive sweep of the suspect’s office at Ojas Property Dealer and Developers and his private residence.
The 67-year-old suspect, known to his followers as “Captain,” remains in custody until March 24. While the initial FIR detailed the three-year ordeal of a 28-year-old woman, the sheer volume of footage now suggests a systematic operation of drugging and filming women under the guise of “cosmology” rituals.
Satpute spent over two hours today reviewing forensic data with crime branch officials. The SIT is now working to categorize the footage, which reportedly features not just local residents, but also high-profile individuals from Mumbai and Pune who sought the numerology advice of Astrologer Kharat.
And the political shockwaves are turning into a full-scale tsunami.
Opposition leader Sushma Andhare held a blistering press conference this morning, leveling a direct accusation against Rupali Chakankar, Chairperson of the Maharashtra State Commission for Women. Andhare alleged that Chakankar did more than just perform rituals for the “Captain”—she claimed the two shared “domestic ties” and that a relative of Astrologer Kharat even resides in Chakankar’s home. Andhare went further, demanding a Narco test for the Women’s Commission chief to determine if she used her office to suppress previous complaints.
Chakankar has flatly denied the allegations, maintaining her association with the Shri Shivnika Sansthan trust was strictly for social work. “I have no knowledge of his personal conduct,” she told reporters.
But can a public official remain a trustee of a predatory enterprise without questions of complicity?
The SIT’s latest search of the farmhouse in Mirgaon also yielded a laptop, eight lakh rupees in cash, and property documents worth crores. Police suspect Astrologer Kharat used the “fear of death” to manipulate victims, often telling them their husbands would die unless they submitted to “cleansing rituals” involving intoxicants. The 28-year-old complainant told police she was first raped after being fed a concoction that caused total numbness.
Minister of State for Home Yogesh Kadam has issued a fresh appeal for victims to step forward. He promised that the identity of any woman coming forward would be protected by the state. “The number of videos is far more than anyone initially thought,” Kadam noted, “and we will follow this trail to the very end, no matter who it implicates.”
Astrologer Kharat faces a battery of charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Maharashtra Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Act. The investigation has now expanded into a wider probe of his financial empire, which grew significantly after high-profile political visits to his temple in 2022.
The SIT is expected to present this new digital evidence to the court on Monday to seek an extension of the suspect’s remand.
The focus has now shifted from a single rape case to uncovering what appears to be one of the largest blackmail and exploitation rackets in the region’s history.
One thing is certain: the “Captain” won’t be navigating his way out of this one easily.
