Controversial IAS probationer Puja Khedkar’s mother, Manorama Khedkar, has been charged with attempted murder after a viral video showed her brandishing a gun and arguing over a land dispute in Dhadwali village, Pune’s Mulshi tehsil.
Following the video’s circulation, authorities launched a search operation and arrested Manorama on Thursday, July 18. She was found hiding in a lodge in Mahad, Raigad district, police said.
“Manorama Khedkar was apprehended from Mahad in Raigad district and brought to Paud where, after completing formalities, she was placed under arrest,” stated Superintendent of Police, Pune Rural, Pankaj Deshmukh.
The video surfaced amid scrutiny of Puja Khedkar for demanding perks such as a separate office and an official car, not typically available to probationary officers. This led to further revelations about her Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) candidacy and her family, including questions about her disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) certificate used for her civil services entry.
Manorama Khedkar has been remanded to police custody until July 20 for allegedly threatening individuals with a gun. Puja Khedkar’s father, Dilip Khedkar, a retired government official, is also under investigation for alleged disproportionate assets.
The Paud police in Pune rural have booked the Khedkar couple and five others under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), including 323 (dishonest or fraudulent removal or concealment of property), and relevant provisions of the Arms Act.
In response to the controversy, the government has suspended Puja Khedkar’s ‘district training program.’ She was previously transferred to Washim as a supernumerary assistant collector from Pune. She has been ordered to return to the Mussoorie-based Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration for “necessary action.”
“You are hereby relieved from the district training programme of the state government of Maharashtra. You are instructed to join the academy at the earliest but not later than 23rd July 2024 under any circumstance,” read the letter addressed to Khedkar.
