Pune court sends IAS probationer Puja Khedkar's mother to judicial custody

Pune: A court in Pune district on Monday remanded in judicial custody Manorama Khedkar, mother of IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, arrested for allegedly threatening some persons with a gun over a land dispute.

Manorama was produced in the court of judicial magistrate first class after her police custody ended on Monday, and she was sent to judicial custody for 14 days.

She was apprehended from a lodge at Hirkaniwadi village near Mahad in Raigad district on July 18.

Police had launched a search for Manorama and her husband, Dilip Khedkar, after a video surfaced showing her allegedly threatening some persons with a gun over a land dispute at Dhadwali village in Pune's Mulshi tehsil in 2023.

The Paud police in Pune rural had booked the Khedkar couple and five others under IPC sections 307 (attempt to murder), 144 (unlawful assembly armed with deadly weapon), 147 (rioting) and 506 (criminal intimidation) besides invoking the Arms Act.

Earlier on Saturday, police had informed the court that they had recovered a pistol and a car used in the crime.

Puja Khedkar is under scrutiny for her claims regarding disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates in her Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) candidature and her conduct during her tenure at the Pune collector’s office.