Manorama Khedkar, mother of controversial IAS officer Puja Khedkar, was remanded to 14-day judicial custody by a Pune court on Monday in connection with alleged criminal intimidation linked to a land dispute. Manorama was presented before the magistrate court by Pune police after her judicial custody was extended till July 22. She, her husband Dilip Khedkar, and four others were booked by police after a video surfaced showing her allegedly threatening people with a gun over a land dispute in Dhadwali village, Mulshi tehsil, in 2023.
She was apprehended on July 18 from a lodge in Hirkaniwadi village near Mahad in Raigad district, where she had been hiding. Meanwhile, a sessions court in Pune granted interim protection from arrest to Dilip Khedkar until July 25.
Puja Khedkar, the IAS officer at the center of the controversy, faces multiple allegations, including misuse of power and privileges, and fraudulent use of disability and Other Backward Class (non-creamy layer) quotas to secure her candidature in the civil services exam. She is also accused of manipulating her identity to exceed the allowable number of exam attempts.
The Centre has established a committee to re-examine the documents Puja Khedkar submitted for her civil services candidature and subsequent selection. Additionally, the UPSC has registered a criminal case against her for "misrepresenting and falsifying facts" following a thorough investigation.
(With agency inputs)