MUMBAI, April 4 -- Social activist Anjali Damania reinforced self-styled godman Ashok Kharat's links with the rich and powerful on Friday a she presented call records between Kharat and several key political figures in the state, apart from former state women's commission chief Rupali Chakankar, who resigned from the post after her association with Kharat came to light. She claimed deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde received 17 calls from the rape-accused last year and made 7 calls; one of the calls lasted 21 minutes on April 17, 2025. In a video message released to the media from Chandigarh, Damania claimed that Chakankar had made the highest number of calls to Kharat, while other figures who made frequent calls to the jailed godman apart from Shinde, were ministers Chandrakant Patil and Ashish Shelar, and state NCP chief Sunil Tatkare. Damania backed her claim by releasing the summary of the CDR (call detail records) reports she claimed to have received from an unknown person. The calls were received on Kharat's phone number were between April 1, 2025 and March 17, 2026. Kharat is facing the charges of rape, sexual assault and cheating. 11 FIRs have been registered against him in various police stations in Nashik, while a special investigation team (SIT) under IPS officer Tejasvi Satpute has received over 60 calls, which include enquiries about the progress of the case. Pictures of Kharat in the company of many politicians surfaced soon after his arrest two weeks ago. Citing the CDR, Damania claimed that Chakankar spoke to Kharat for 33,727 seconds through 177 calls in a span of a year, 119 of which were incoming calls. She also claimed that Chakankar's sister Pratibha made 236 calls on Kharat's mobile phone. "Chakankar claimed that Kharat was her guru and that he was like a member of her family; she also claimed to have been ignorant about the alleged exploitation of women. Nobody speaks to their guru for 33,727 seconds over so many calls. An FIR against her and her arrest will help us get more information about what transpired during these calls. I demand a probe into this," said Damania. She added, according to the CDR summary, Patil and Tatkare made 8 calls each to Kharat, while Shelar called him once. She also claimed that Deepak Londhe, close aide of Shiv Sena leader and former minister Deepak Kesarkar, and Kharat exchanged 189 calls through 30,529 seconds of conversation. "I have submitted the call details to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, the director general of police Sadanand Date, and SIT chief Tejasvi Satpute. I also felt that it was necessary to bring the information in the public domain. I am however unaware of who sent the CDR details on my mobile," said Damania, adding that some of the calls were also from Kharat's other followers from countries such as UAE, Australia, USA, Virgin Islands, Oman, Qatar, among others. Responding to Damania's claims, social justice minister and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Shirsat stood by Shinde, emphasising that no one should be held responsible until the calls are investigated. "The CM has already clarified that nobody will be spared and everyone related to the charges will be arrested. Before blaming anybody, let details of the calls come to the fore. Mere phone calls or the photographs with Kharat will not make anybody an accused," he said. Kesarkar declined the claim that Londhe was his close aide at all. "Londhe was Kharat's personal assistant. I have no relation with either. I would meet Kharat sometimes on visits to the Sinnar temple, whose trust he headed," said Kesarkar. "Politicians need to speak to various people in society. There is nothing objectionable if one spoke to a person who was not an accused at the time."...