Arms Act case against Puja Khedkar’s mother for brandishing gun at farmers
PUNE, JULY 13 : Pune police has registered an FIR against the parents of Puja Khedkar after an old video of the controversial trainee IAS officer’s mother wielding a pistol at farmers went viral. The FIR was lodged against Manorama Khedkar and Dilip Khedkar following a complaint by a farmer.
The case has been registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 323, 504, 506, 143, 144, 147, 148 and 149 and sections of the Indian Arms Act.
The development came after Pune Rural police took cognisance of the video, said to be at least a year old, in which Khedkar’s mother Manorama is seen allegedly threatening farmers with a pistol in Pune’s Mulshi tehsil over a land dispute.
Dilip Khedkar, Puja’s father, 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 ownership of a plot of land.
In the video, Manorama is heard shouting at the man in Marathi that the ‘Saat-Baara-Utara’, a document maintained by the revenue department of the state for tax collection 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, then says that the matter was 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 it would also probe if Manorama had a licence to own a firearm.
Puja Khedkar, a 2023-batch IAS officer of the Maharashtra cadre, recently hit the headlines after she was transferred from Pune to Washim over her 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.
-The IndiaToday
