Probe on after fatal Samruddhi Expressway crash kills aide of Ashok Kharat
2 min readMumbaiApr 18, 2026 10:14 PM IST
A day after Jitendra Shelke, an aide of jailed self-styled godman Ashok Kharat, and his wife were killed after their car rammed a container truck on the Samruddhi Expressway, police on Saturday said they were verifying the truck driver’s claim he had slowed the vehicle due to a fault. Earlier reports suggested the truck may have been stationary.
The accident took place around 12:30 pm on Friday near Dhotre village in Kopargaon taluka in Ahilya Nagar when Shelke, who was driving from Sambhajinagar towards Shirdi along with his wife and son, hit the rear of the container.
The impact left the car lodged under the truck. Shelke and his wife died on the spot, while their son was seriously injured and taken to a hospital in Shirdi.
Police said an Accidental Death Report (ADR) has been registered at the Kopargaon police station and a detailed crash report analysis is being carried out with the help of transport department experts to determine the exact sequence of events.
The container driver, Jamal Waris, was summoned by the Kopargaon police for questioning and recording his statement on Saturday. In his statement, the Driver told the police he was driving from Hyderabad to Ahmedabad when a leaked radiator pipe caused the vehicle to overheat. He said he slowed down and was moving towards the roadside but had not stopped when the car hit the truck from behind.
