In a major development, Pune police on Thursday arrested controversial IAS officer Puja Khedkar's mother, Manorama Khedkar. She was taking into custody from a lodge in Mahad, Raigad district, for allegedly menacing people with a firearm over a land dispute in Dhadwali village in Pune district.
A search operation was launched for accused Manorama and her husband Dilip Khedkar following the surfacing of the video of the lady brandishing the gun. The couple, along with five others, have been charged under different sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and the Arms Act.
Superintendent of Police Pankaj Deshmukh confirmed Manorama's arrest and said that several teams have been hastily formed to trace the accused.
This occurred at a time when a storm, raging over claims by Puja Khedkar regarding disability and OBC certificates in her UPSC candidature, hit higher echelons of the government. The government has put on hold Puja's district training program, and she has been called back to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration for further action.
Apart from this, the Pune Anti-Corruption Bureau has already registered a complaint seeking an open inquiry into alleged DA owned by Puja's father, Dilip Khedkar. Now the ACB is seeking directions whether to build in this complaint into the ongoing probe or it has to go for a whole another investigation.
Read also | Field Training Cut Short for IAS Officer Puja Khedkar, Reassigned to LBSNAA Mussoorie
