Kharat used code names to mask callers: Damania

Ashok Kharat was arrested on March 18 on charges including rape, sexual exploitation, black magic and cheating. So far, 13 FIRs have been registered against him. Damania has been making revelations based on the Call Detail Record (CDR) of Kharat that she had managed to obtain

MUMBAI: To conceal the identities of callers, self-styled godman Ashok Kharat allegedly saved phone numbers under coded names in his mobile, social activist Anjali Damania claimed on Sunday. One such contact was listed as ‘Shizuka Nobi’, a character from the cartoon Doraemon, and was among the most frequent callers.

Anjali Damania (HT Photo)

Ashok Kharat was arrested on March 18 on charges including rape, sexual exploitation, black magic and cheating. So far, 13 FIRs have been registered against him. Damania has been making revelations based on the Call Detail Record (CDR) of Kharat that she had managed to obtain.

Last week, Damania alleged that NCP leader and former state women’s commission chief Rupali Chakankar made 177 calls to Kharat. She also claimed that deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde made 17 calls, triggering a political row.

“I was going through the CDR to identify callers having made the highest number of phone calls. During this process, I found masked names of the callers and one of them was ‘Shizuka Nobi’, a character from the popular cartoon show, ‘Doraemon’,” Damania said.

She said those in frequent contact with Kharat should be investigated to ascertain the nature of their association with him. “Given their repeated contact with Kharat, there is a need to investigate these individuals and examine their relationship with him,” she said.