Tejaswi Satpute-headed Special Investigation Team to probe rape complaint against arrested astrologer Ashok Kharat

NASHIK: State govt has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe allegations of rape against the astrologer (67) arrested by the Nashik city police on Wednesday, following a complaint by a 28-year-old woman, who accused him of sexually assaulting her repeatedly for three years between 2022 and Dec 2025.The Nashik city police took the accused, Ashok Kumar Kharat (popularly known as ‘captain') into custody from his residence early in the morning on Wednesday. He was later produced before a court, which remanded him in police custody till March 24. "The SIT is headed by Tejaswi Satpute, commandant of the State Reserve Police Force, Pune. She visited Nashik and interrogated the accused for over two hours on Thursday," a senior officer from the Nashik city police said. In an order signed by Special IG Manoj Kumar Sharma and issued on Wednesday, the director general of police's office directed Satpute to investigate the case and submit regular progress reports. Satpute also headed SIT in case of alleged suicide by a doctor working at govt sub district hospital in Satara's Phaltan town last year.Meanwhile, former MP Sambhaji Raje Chhatrapati, who was in Nashik on Thursday, demanded that CM Devendra Fadnavis should take serious action against state women's commission chairperson Rupali Chakankar for her alleged ties with the astrologer. The MP's demand comes a day after Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sushma Andhare raised astrologer Kharat's association with Chakankar on Wednesday. Chakankar, however, maintained that she had no knowledge of Kharat's personal life or the allegations against him. "Whatever allegations have been made will be investigated impartially by the police. I have full faith in the investigation," she wrote in a social media post on Wednesday.During a media interaction, Sambhaji Raje Chhatrapati responded to questions on Chakankar, saying, "This is a highly sensitive issue, and I am surprised that Chakankar has not submitted her resignation yet. CM Fadnavis should take strict action against her and, if necessary, remove her from the post."TOI's efforts to contact Chakankar on Thursday on Sambhaji Raje Chhatrapati's demand remained unanswered till going to press.The Sarkarwada police in Nashik have registered a case under sections 64 (punishment for rape) and 74 (assault or criminal force with intent to outrage a woman's modesty) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the Sarkarwada police station. They have also invoked provisions of the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013, against the accused astrologer.As part of the ongoing probe, police teams also visited the accused's residence in Nashik city and his farmhouse in Mirgaon, Sinnar. A Nashik city police officer said the investigation was being handled by the crime branch, with the SIT officer supervising the process. All relevant information was being provided to the SIT by the city police officers concerned, the officer added.