Puja Khedkar's mother Manorama Khedkar was seen with a gun in a viral video
Poona:
Police on her trail Manorama Khedkar, the mother of trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar, used a fake Aadhaar card to get a room at a lodge in Maharashtra's Raigad district, sources told NDTV. She had hired a private taxi to reach the lodge and was living there with the taxi driver, whom she introduced as her son, the police sources added.
Manorama Khedkar was arrested from the lodge this morning in connection with a viral video in which she is seen brandishing a firearm and threatening villagers, allegedly over a land dispute. She is facing multiple charges, including attempt to murder. A Pune court has remanded her in judicial custody for two days.
Several police teams were on the lookout for Manorama Khedkar and her husband Dilip Khedkar, a co-accused in the case linked to the viral video. Dilip Khedkar has not been arrested yet.
“Manorama hired a private taxi and reached the hotel. She was staying there with the taxi driver and had introduced him as her son,” a senior police source told NDTV. “She had used a fake identity card identifying her as Indubai.”
Police sources said they tracked her down using GPS and then took her into custody at the lodge. A CCTV camera outside the lodge captured Manorama Khedkar being escorted to a police vehicle before being taken to Pune and arrested.
CCTV camera captures Manorama Khedkar being taken into custody
The video that has landed Manorama Khedkar in hot water came amid the row over her 34-year-old daughter Puja Khedkar. The 2023-batch IAS trainee made headlines a few weeks ago when Pune Collector Suhas Diwase wrote a letter to Maharashtra Chief Secretary Sujata Saunik, listing several demands that she was not entitled to during her probation.
This complaint set in motion a chain of events that led to shocking revelations. Questions were raised about how she had weathered the tough selection process for UPSC. She was found to have availed relaxations for physical disability and OBC candidature, but allegations surfaced that she was not eligible for such relaxations.
Her two-year training has now been suspended and her selection for the IAS is being considered by a panel constituted by the Centre.
Puja Khedkar’s father Dilip Khedkar has also come under the radar. He is accused of amassing assets disproportionate to his income. The retired Maharashtra government official was suspended twice on corruption charges after businessmen accused him of extortion. The Pune Anti-Corruption Bureau has now launched an investigation against him.