India's Enforcement Directorate (ED), the country's financial crimes agency, conducted raids on April 13 across 11 premises in the Maharashtra cities of Nashik, Pune, and Shirdi as part of a money laundering investigation into self-styled godman Ashok Kharat. The searches targeted properties linked to Kharat, his chartered accountant, relatives, and several cooperative credit societies. The ED action follows Kharat's arrest in March on charges of rape, human sacrifice, and black magic — a case that has already triggered political controversy in Maharashtra (a large state in western India) and prompted the formation of a Special Investigation Team.