Trainee IAS Puja Khedkar's mother Manorama remanded to police custody till July 20

A court in Maharashtra's Pune district on Thursday remanded Manorama Khedkar, the mother of IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, in police custody until July 20 following her arrest for allegedly threatening individuals with a gun over a land dispute.

Manorama was apprehended from a lodge in Mahad, located in Raigad district, where she had been hiding, according to the police. She was subsequently brought to the Paud police station in Pune district and officially arrested.

An official stated that she was presented before a local court, which remanded her in police custody until July 20.

The police had initiated a search for Manorama and her husband, Dilip Khedkar, after a video surfaced showing Manorama allegedly threatening individuals with a gun over a land dispute in Dhadwali village, situated in Pune's Mulshi tehsil.

The Paud police in Pune rural have charged the Khedkar couple and five others under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), including section 323 (dishonest or fraudulent removal or concealment of property), and the Arms Act.

“Manorama Khedkar was apprehended from Mahad in Raigad district and she was brought to Paud where, after the completion of formalities, she was placed under arrest," Superintendent of Police, Pune Rural, Pankaj Deshmukh, had said earlier.

Puja Khedkar faces scrutiny over her disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) certificate claims related to her Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) candidacy and her conduct during her tenure at the Pune collector's office.

In response to the controversy, the government has put Puja Khedkar's 'district training program' on hold. Previously transferred to Washim as a supernumerary assistant collector from Pune, she has been summoned back to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie for "necessary action".

Additionally, the Pune Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) unit received a complaint requesting an open inquiry against Puja Khedkar's father, Dilip Khedkar, a retired government official, concerning alleged disproportionate assets, a senior official reported on Wednesday.

The Nashik division of the ACB is already investigating Dilip Khedkar for alleged disproportionate assets. Consequently, the Pune ACB unit has sought guidance from the ACB headquarters on whether to incorporate the new complaint into the ongoing investigation or conduct a separate open inquiry.