Pune/IBNS: The Pune Police on Thursday detained controversial IAS officer Puja Khedkars mother, Manorama Khedkar, who was seen threatening farmers with a gun in a viral video, media reports said.
After the video went viral, police had been searching for Manorama and her husband Dilip following a First Information Report (FIR), which was filed against them and five others.
Manorama was threatening the people with a gun over a land dispute.
The mother of Puja Khedkar was detained from Mahad, a city in Maharashtra.
Controversial IAS officer Pooja Khedkars mother Manorama Khedkar arrested.
Pune Rural Police made an arrest under the Arms Act.
Manorama Khedkar was detained by the police from a hotel in Hirakniwadi in Raigad district. #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/Ws0PU0H2Uz
Kedar (@shintre_kedar) July 18, 2024
34-year-old Puja Khedkar faces accusations of using fraudulent means to clear her civil services exam, including allegedly misrepresenting herself under the physical disabilities and non-creamy layer of OBC categories.
Khedkar said she would testify in front of the expert committee and will accept the decision of the committee.
Whatever my submission is, I will give it in front of the committee and the truth will come out, she said.
Apart from using a siren on her car, VIP number plates, and a sticker saying Government of Maharashtra, Khedkar had also been found using Pune Additional Collector Ajay Mores office while he was away. She reportedly removed his nameplate and furniture and even demanded letterheads.
None of these perks are available for junior officers on probation for 24 months. According to reports, her father, a retired administrative officer, had pushed for her demands to be fulfilled.
Image posted on X by @oldschoolmonkage
Apart from the disability claims, inconsistencies were also found in Khedkars claims to OBC non-creamy layer status.
Questions were raised about her appointment in the civil services after a Pune RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar alleged that she did not fall under the OBC non-creamy layer as her father had assets worth Rs. 40 crore.
As per the rules, only those come under the OBC non-creamy layer category whose parents are under 8 lac per annum of income, but their income shows that it is 40 crore. Her parents contested the recent Lok Sabha polls and all the property details are there in the affidavit, he said.
The falsified statements and allowances gained allowed Khedkar to pass the uber-competitive Civil Services Exam despite scoring a relatively low all-India rank of 841.
Khedkar was transferred from Pune to Washim after her exploits – including the use of a siren on her private vehicle, an Audi luxury sedan – came to light.
Pune Collector Suhas Divase had written to the Chief Secretary of the Maharashtra government to request Puja Khedkars reassignment.
She was later transferred to Washim district.
My job here as a probationer is to work and learn and that is what I am doing. I cannot make any comments on that (the probe). Whenever the decision of the committee comes, it will be public and open to scrutiny. But right now I dont have any right to tell you about the investigation going on, she said speaking to reporters.
