Hearing on anticipatory bail plea of Kharat’s wife pushed to April 16 on defence request

Nashik: The Rahata court on Friday deferred the hearing on the anticipatory bail application filed by Kalpana Kharat, the wife of rape-accused astrologer Ashok Kharat, to April 16, following a request by the defence.Senior officers of the Ahilyanagar police confirmed the development. Advocate Pravin Kolhe, appearing for the defence, said a senior lawyer from Nashik was scheduled to argue the bail application on behalf of Kalpana. However, as the lawyer was unable to be present on Friday, a request for a later date was made and accepted by the court. Kalpana is one of the accused wanted in a case of cheating and illegal money lending registered at the Shirdi police station on March 31.The complainant in the case, a 55-year-old farmer from Rahata in Ahilyanagar district, alleged that he had approached astrologer Kharat for a loan to clear existing debts. In Aug 2023, he entered into an agreement to receive Rs 5.52 crore from Kharat. As collateral, the farmer was required to execute a sale deed for around four acres of agricultural land in Nighoj, valued at Rs 10 crore.According to the farmer, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and an agreement to sell were signed at the same time, stipulating that the farmer could repurchase the land by Aug 2024 for a total amount of Rs 6.07 crore. The farmer alleged that he initially issued a cheque of Rs 51 lakh as advance payment for buying back the land. However, over the subsequent months, he was allegedly coerced into paying additional interest amounts of Rs 90 lakh, Rs 25 lakh, and Rs 50 lakh through Kharat's associates.Police said when the farmer attempted to pay the remaining amount to reclaim his land, Kharat allegedly stopped responding to his calls and shut down his Nashik-based office.While two accused have already been arrested in the case, astrologer Kharat is currently in the custody of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) in Nashik in connection with multiple cases involving sexual assault and black magic. He has remained in custody since the first case against him was registered on March 17.Meanwhile, Shirdi police officers said they were tracing the whereabouts of Kalpana, with multiple teams deployed to locate her.A total of 12 cases have been registered against astrologer Kharat across Nashik and Ahilyanagar districts. Additionally, there are two more cases in which he is linked, though not named as an accused. Of these, 11 cases are being probed by the SIT, and eight pertain to the alleged sexual exploitation of women.