Pune Police arrests mother of IAS probationer Puja Khedkar in land dispute case

IAS probationer Puja Khedkar`s mother Manorama Khedkar. Pic/Screengrab

Pune police arrested Manorama Khedkar, mother of IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, on Thursday in connection with a land dispute case. She allegedly threatened individuals with a gun over the dispute, officials said. Manorama Khedkar was apprehended and transported to Paud police station in Pune district after being discovered hiding in a lodge in Hirkaniwadi, Mahad, in Maharashtra's Raigad district, reported PTI.

According to the PTI report, a hunt for IAS probationer Puja Khedkar's parents--mother Manorama and father Dilip--was launched when a video surfaced showing her brandishing a gun during a disagreement in Dhadwali village in Pune's Mulshi tehsil.

The Khedkars and five others have been charged under Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) sections, including 323 (dishonest or fraudulent removal or concealing of property) and related portions of the Arms Act, the report added.

"Manorama Khedkar was apprehended from Mahad in Raigad district and she was brought to Pune where, after the completion of formalities, she was placed under arrest," said Pankaj Deshmukh, Superintendent of Police, Pune Rural told PTI. Multiple teams have been dispatched to find Manorama, her husband, and the other five accused.

According to the report, IAS probationer Puja Khedkar is being investigated for her claims of handicap and Other Backward Class (OBC) certifications in her Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) application, as well as her actions while at the Pune collector's office.

In light of the scandal, the government has suspended Puja Khedkar's 'district training program'. She has been posted to Washim as a supernumerary assistant collector from Pune and called back to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie for "necessary action", the report added.

Reportedly, the Pune Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has also received a complaint requesting an open investigation into the alleged excessive assets of Puja Khedkar's father, Dilip Khedkar, a retired government officer. A senior officer stated that the ACB's Nashik division is already investigating him for identical claims, and the Pune section has requested guidance from ACB headquarters on whether to incorporate the latest charge into the present probe or launch a separate investigation.