FIR against parents of Puja Khedkar after farmer’s complaint
The Pune police have filed a FIR against Puja Khedkar’s parents after an old video of the controversial trainee IAS officer’s mother waving a weapon at farmers surfaced. A farmer filed a complaint, prompting the FIR against Manorama Khedkar and Dilip Khedkar.
The case has been filed under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 323, 504, 506, 143, 144, 147, 148, and 149, as well as sections of the Indian Arms Act.
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Old video shows Puja’s mother threatening farmers with pistol in Pune’s Mulshi tehsil
The incident occured when Pune Rural police took notice of a video, believed to be at least a year old, in which Khedkar’s mother, Manorama, is shown reportedly threatening farmers with a pistol in Pune’s Mulshi tehsil over a property dispute.
Puja’s father, Dilip Khedkar, a retired government servant, had bought 25 acres of land in Mulshi tehsil.
The two-minute video shows Manorama, flanked by bouncers, fighting with a person over ownership of a part of land.
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In the video, Manorama can be heard yelling at the man in Marathi that the ‘Saat-Baara-Utara’, a document maintained by the state’s revenue department for tax collection purposes, was in her name.
In the video, Puja’s mother threatens farmers over the land dispute, stating, “You may be the real owner… but this place is also in my name. So, what if the case is in court? I’ll see how you take up everything. I’m not scared of anyone,” Manorama says.
The police said they will also look into if Manorama has a firearms licence.
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Trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar has been surrounded by controversy in recent times
Puja Khedkar, a 2023-batch IAS officer from the Maharashtra cadre, recently made news when she was relocated from Pune to Washim due to excessive demands and indiscipline.
She had also illegally put a beacon and a Maharashtra state government emblem on her fancy Audi vehicle.
There have also been charges that she used Other Backward Class (OBC) advantages and disability concessions to get a seat in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).
The Centre has constituted a one-member committee to investigate her actions and selection procedure.
