Trainee IAS officer Pooja Khedkar’s mother detained for allegedly threatening farmers with gun
The police began searching for Manorama Khedkar after a video showing her purportedly intimidating some persons, dating back to June 2023, surfaced online.
Manorama Khedkar, the mother of trainee Indian Administrative Service officer Puja Khedkar, was detained by the Pune Police on Thursday for allegedly threatening farmers with a gun about a year ago, reported PTI.
The police had launched a search for Manorama and her husband Dilip Khedkar after a video surfaced on social media showing her arguing with some persons, apparently about a land dispute, at Dhadawali village in Pune’s Mulshi tehsil.
Manorama Khedkar can be seen wielding a gun in the video. The incident occurred on June 5, 2023, reported The Indian Express. A first information report was filed against Manorama and Dilip Khedkar based on a complaint by a farmer named Pandharinath Pasalkar at a police station in Paud on Friday.
Puja Khedkar family faces further scrutiny as mother's armed threat surfaces, reports @Journoyogesh https://t.co/cUPxQudlEw pic.twitter.com/96Rtyk3Q5H
— HTMumbai (@HTMumbai) July 12, 2024
The Pune Police have booked the couple and five others under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita for dishonest or fraudulent removal or concealment of property, in addition to the Arms act, reported PTI.
“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 told the news agency.
Manorama Khedkar was brought to Pune early on Thursday, reported The Times of India.
On Saturday, Commissioner of Police (Pune City) Amitesh Kumar issued a show-cause notice to Manorama Khedkar asking why her gun licence should not be cancelled in view of the alleged incident, reported The Indian Express.
The show-cause notice alleged that Manorama Khedkar had violated the rules of her gun licence. It added that her “irresponsible act” may have caused a threat to the life of common citizens and also said that she is unfit to possess a gun licence.
The case against Manorama comes amid a controversy involving her daughter Puja Khedkar.
The controversy erupted after Pune-based Right to Information activist Vijay Kumbhar alleged that Puja had become a civil services officer by availing benefits under the Other Backward Classes quota. In this category, those with parents having an annual income of more than Rs 8 lakh are classified in the “creamy layer”.
Puja Khedkar’s district training was put on hold and she has been ordered to return to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Uttarakhand’s Mussoorie.
