Self-styled godman Ashok Kharat will be produced before a Mumbai court on May 18, after a special court issued a warrant for his appearance at the request of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which sought his arrest in a money-laundering case. The court directed the superintendent of Nashik jail, where Kharat is currently lodged, to produce Kharat with adequate security.

“The police authority concerned is directed to provide adequate police protection for the production of the accused before this court,” special judge R B Rote said.

Kharat, who was arrested in March, following multiple complaints of sexual assault, has been in custody since. He was sent to Nashik jail last week, following which the court issued his production warrant on Monday.

Earlier this month, the ED moved the court in Mumbai, stating that his arrest was necessary in a money-laundering case. “Production of Mr Ashok Kharat is also necessary to identify the ultimate beneficiaries of the proceeds of crime who have acquired, possessed and utilised the proceeds of crime. Further, he is the main person who extorted the money from the victims spanning across Maharashtra through religious manipulation…” the ED plea had said. The ED also conducted searches and raids on entities linked to him.

The ED plea said that money collected from victims was invested in real estate either in his own name or of that of his family members. The ED told the court that during searches conducted in April at Kharat’s residential and office premises, documents related to real estate businesses and properties were found and are being scrutinised to trace the money trail. The ED also alleged Kharat had extorted huge amounts of money from his “devotees/victims”, and his custody is needed to investigate others linked with him.

It has been alleged that Kharat had opened 60 bank accounts in the names of various individuals with his own mobile number linked to them, and with him as the sole nominee. The ED plea said that the probe showed Kharat got 43 accounts opened in one day with a co-operative credit society in 2021. These accounts were opened using documents of “devotees” and others, without their consent, with transactions of more than Rs 70 crore seen in them, the ED alleged.

The other FIRs against Kharat claim victims were duped through deceptive practices and claims of sale of items having “divine healing powers”, such as wild tamarind seeds, sold at a high value.

Kharat will now be produced before the court on May 18, after which the ED will formally arrest him and seek his custody for further probe.