The Pune Police detained Manorama Khedkar, mother of the controversial IAS officer Puja Khedkar, on Thursday. Authorities had been searching for Manorama and her husband Dilip following an FIR filed against them and five others. This action came after a video surfaced showing Manorama allegedly threatening people with a gun over a land dispute.
The charges include violations under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), such as section 323 (dishonest or fraudulent removal or concealment of property), along with the Arms Act. The case was initiated shortly after a video appeared on social media, depicting Manorama, accompanied by security guards, engaging in a heated argument while wielding a pistol in Dhadwali village, located in Pune’s Mulshi tehsil.
IAS officer Puja Khedkar has been under scrutiny due to controversies surrounding her claims about disability and OBC certificates during her IAS qualification process, as well as her behavior while assigned to the Pune collector’s office.
Amidst the controversy, the government has “placed Khedkar’s ‘district training program’ on hold” and called her back to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration for “necessary action.” Khedkar was transferred to Washim as a supernumerary assistant collector from Pune after senior officials received a report from Diwase regarding her alleged demands for unauthorized facilities as a trainee IAS officer and her occupation of a senior official’s ante-chamber.