Godman Kharat’s aide and wife killed in Samruddhi Expressway crash

A close aide of self-styled godman Ashok Kharat and his wife were killed after their car hit a stationary truck on the Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra. Their son was injured. Police have registered a case and launched a crash analysis

Mumbai: Jailed self-styled godman Ashok Kharat’s close associate and his wife died when their car rammed into a stationary container truck on the Samruddhi Expressway in Ahilyanagar district of Maharashtra on Friday, police officials said.

The deceased were identified as Jitendra Shelke (55) and his wife Anuradha (50), an official said, adding that their son sustained serious injuries in the accident.

---

Shelke was a close associate of Nashik-based godman Kharat, who has been arrested on rape and fraud charges, among others. Shelke was Kharat’s business partner and also vice-president of the Shivanika Trust, set up by the ‘godman’, according to the official.

The accident took place at around 12 pm near Dhotre village under the jurisdiction of the Kopargaon Police Station in the western Maharashtra district, around 250 km from Mumbai, he said.

Shelke, who was driving the car, his wife and son were coming to Thane from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar via the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway. As the car reached Dhotre, he lost control of the vehicle and rammed into a container truck parked on the roadside, the official said.

All three suffered grievous injuries in the crash and were rushed to a local hospital, where Shelke and his wife were declared dead on arrival, he said.

The couple’s son was undergoing treatment at the hospital.

A case of accidental death was registered at the Kopargaon Police Station.

With the help of authorities like the RTO and automobile experts, police will conduct a crash analysis to determine the cause of the fatal accident, said Somnath Gharge, Superintendent of Police, Ahilyanagar.