Nashik, Mar 19 A retired officer from the Merchant Navy, who had presented himself as an astrologer, was remanded in police custody until March 24 by a Nashik court on Thursday, a day after his arrest for allegedly repeatedly raping a woman for over three years.
He was apprehended by the local Crime Branch under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act. A case has been registered against him at the Sarkarwada police station, an official said.
Kharat, who is also the chairman of the Shree Ishaneshwar Mahadev Temple Trust in Mirgaon in Sinnar taluka, is alleged to have sexually assaulted the 35-year-old complainant between November 2022 and December 2025, he said.
"Kharat was produced before a court here, which remanded him in police custody until March 24. We have also found some documents, as well as a pistol and some cartridges, in his house in Mirgaon in Sinnar taluka," the official added.
The state government has formed a special investigation team under IPS officer Tejaswini Satpute in the case.
On Wednesday, police had said that 58 videos, including some objectionable clips, stored on a pen drive, have been recovered from Kharat, who used to call himself "captain".