Damania releases CDR linking Kharat to credit society under probe

Activist Anjali Damania linked godman Ashok Kharat to a credit society under investigation, revealing calls and messages around Ajit Pawar's death.

MUMBAI Social activist Anjali Damania on Monday released call detail records (CDR) allegedly linking self-styled godman Ashok Kharat to a cooperative credit society already under investigation, raising questions about who controlled the funds routed through its accounts.

Mumbai, India - Nov 20, 2023 : AAP Party Leader Anjali Damania with the Fernandes Family holding a press conference against Chhagan Bhujbal and Sameer Bhujbal at Santacruz, in Mumbai, India, Monday, November 20, 2023. (Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo)

The CDR she released also reveals 73 text messages exchanged by the credit society and Kharat around the time of the plane crash that killed deputy chief minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar in January. Rohit Pawar, NCP (SP) MLA, who has consistently alleged a conspiracy behind Pawar’s death, alleges a link between Kharat and the accident on January 28.

On Monday, Damania released what she claimed were Kharat’s CDR although HT could not independently verify their authenticity. The CDR points to calls between Kharat and Omprakash Koyte Patil, who heads the Samata Credit Society, which has Kharat as the registered nominee in more than 100 accounts.

The CDR she released logged 11 calls allegedly between Kharat and Koyate Patil between October 9, 2025 and January 22, 2026. Of these, eight were outgoing and three incoming. In addition, the two exchanged one text message each, according to Damania’s statement. The longest call lasted 7.8minutes, on December 13, 2025.

Police are investigating the financial transactions of two cooperative credit societies – Samata Credit Society in Kopargaon, Ahilyanagar, and Jagdamba Credit Society in Sinnar, Nashik. Kharat was not only the nominee in more than 130 of these accounts, many of the them were operated using mobile numbers associated with him. This has raised suspicions about who controlled the funds routed through these accounts, whose transactions exceeded ₹62.74 crore between 2021 and 2024.

Damania also said the CDR reveals 73 text messages exchanged by the Samta Credit Society’s registered mobile number and Kharat between January 27 and 31, the period surrounding Pawar’s death in Baramati on January 28. “I am hopeful more details will emerge if the details are probed. What bothers me more is that selective information emerges, not the information that should be revealed in public interest,” she said.

She added that 297 text messages had been sent by the Samata Society since April 2025 to Kharat, of which 129 were in January 2026 alone.

Said Koyte Patil, “I will have to check the CDR details released by Damania. All the transactions relating to Kharat in our society are legal and according to the norms and rules of the Cooperative Societies Act. We have submitted all the details to the Shirdi police station, which has been probing the case.”

Meanwhile, Rohit Pawar, NCP (SP) MLA and nephew of Ajit Pawar, has demanded that people who had links with Kharat must be investigated. In a social media post, Pawar said, “Damania has revealed shocking information that large financial transactions by self-styled godman Ashok Kharat took place at Samata Credit Society, a day before Ajit Dada’s accident, on the day of the accident and the day after. Considering the alleged black magic ritual performed earlier outside Ajit Dada’s house, the details now shared by Damania, Kharat’s multiple travels via VSR company aircraft, and his followers, raise growing suspicion about whether Kharat had any connection to Ajitdada’s accident.”