India, April 12 -- A grocery shop owner from Kundewadi village in Sinnar tehsil, identified as Shivram Mali (53), has accused self-styled godman Ashok Kharat and his wife Kalpana of "fraudulently" taking away his 16.5 acres of land at Mirgaon in the same tehsil.

Nashik rural SP Balasaheb Patil said Sinnar police have registered an FIR against the couple.

Kharat has a sprawling farmhouse and temple at Mirgaon. Mali said he and his three brothers had bought the land in 1997 for Rs.15 lakh.

"In 2003, we got in touch with Kharat at his office in Nashik to sell the land to him. He showed interest and even visited Mirgaon to see the land. On his advice, we repaid over Rs.1.75 lakhs that we had taken as a loan against the land from others," r...