IAS trainee Puja Khedkar's mother Manorama, who was seen brandishing gun at farmers, detained by Pune police

By Sunita Iyer | First Published Jul 18, 2024, 10:09 AM IST

Pune Police on Thursday detained Manorama Khedkar, mother of probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, on charges of possessing an illegal firearm.

Manorama Khedkar, the mother of controversial IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, was on Thursday detained by police for allegedly brandishing a gun and threatening individuals during a land dispute, according to officials on Wednesday. She was apprehended in Mahad, located in Maharashtra's Raigad district, as confirmed by a Pune police official.

Following the emergence of a video allegedly showing Manorama Khedkar threatening individuals with a gun during a land dispute at Dhadwali village in Pune's Mulshi tehsil, police launched a search for her and her husband, Dilip Khedkar.

Tap to resize

Latest Videos

Tap to resize

The Paud police in Pune rural have subsequently filed charges against the Khedkar couple and five others under sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), including 323 (dishonest or fraudulent removal or concealment of property), along with relevant provisions of the Arms Act.

Now a video of 's mother Manorama Khedkar has emerged. In this video, she can be seen threatening a villager with a pistol in her hand in Mulshi region of . https://t.co/rcP3RB4lTl pic.twitter.com/cfKC95iUyE

— Prateek Goyal (@tweets_prateekg)

"Manorama Khedkar has been detained from Mahad in Raigad district and she is being brought to Pune where, after the completion of formalities, she will be placed under arrest," Superintendent of Police, Pune Rural, Pankaj Deshmukh, said.

Several teams were deployed to locate Manorama, her husband, and the five other individuals accused in the case.

Meanwhile, the Pune Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has received a complaint requesting an open inquiry into Dilip Khedkar, a retired government officer and father of controversial IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, regarding alleged disproportionate assets, according to a senior official.

With an ongoing inquiry by the ACB's Nashik division on similar grounds, the Pune unit of the anti-graft agency has sought guidance from its headquarters.

"An open inquiry against Dilip Khedkar is currently underway at the Ahmednagar unit by Nashik ACB. We have now received another complaint seeking an open inquiry. We have recorded the complainant's statement and forwarded the complaint to ACB headquarters along with the evidence," Pune ACB Superintendent of Police Amol Tambe said on Wednesday.

He mentioned that the ACB headquarters has been asked for instructions on whether to integrate the new complaint into the current investigation or initiate a distinct open inquiry.

Puja Khedkar, an IAS officer from the 2023 batch, is facing scrutiny over her claims related to disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates during her Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) candidacy, as well as her conduct while serving at the Pune collector's office.

Amidst this controversy, the government has decided to suspend Khedkar's 'district training program'. She was earlier transferred from Pune to Washim as a supernumerary assistant collector. She has been summoned back to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie for "necessary action".

For more reliable and latest news