IAS trainee Puja Khedkar's mother booked under Arms Act for brandishing gun at farmers
PTC Web Desk: The Pune police have lodged an FIR against the parents of IA trainee Puja Khedkar after an old video of her mother Manorama Khedkar wielding a pistol at farmers went viral. The FIR was lodged against Manorama and Dilip Khedkar following a complaint by a farmer.
They have been booked under Sections 323, 504, 506, 143, 144, 147, 148, and 149 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, as well as sections of the Indian Arms Act.
This development came after the Pune Rural police took cognizance of the video, reportedly at least a year old, in which Manorama Khedkar is seen allegedly threatening farmers with a pistol in Pune's Mulshi tehsil over a land dispute. Dilip Khedkar, Puja's father and a retired government servant, had purchased 25 acres of land in Mulshi tehsil.
The two-minute video shows Manorama, accompanied by bouncers, arguing with a person about the ownership of a plot of land. In the video, Manorama is heard shouting in Marathi that the 'Saat-Baara-Utara,' a document maintained by the state revenue department for tax purposes, was in her name.
"You may be the real owner... but this place is also in my name... So what if the matter is in court? I will see how you take everything. I am not afraid of anyone," Manorama says. The person, presumably a farmer, responds that the matter is in court.
"But madam, the court's decision has not come yet. I am still the real owner of this place," the person says.
The police said they would also investigate whether Manorama had a license to own a firearm.
Puja Khedkar, a 2023-batch IAS officer of the Maharashtra cadre, recently made headlines after being transferred from Pune to Washim over inappropriate demands and indiscipline. She had also unauthorisedly installed a beacon and Maharashtra state government insignia on her luxury Audi car.
There have also been allegations that she availed Other Backward Class (OBC) benefits as well as disability concessions to secure her position in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). The Centre has formed a one-member committee to probe her conduct and selection process.
- With inputs from agencies
