Criminal intimidation case: Court grants bail to Manorama Khedkar - mother of ex-IAS-PO Puja
Pune, Aug 2 : A Pune court on Friday granted bail of Rs 50,000 to Manorama D. Khedkar – the mother of the former IAS Probationary Officer Puja M.D. Khedkar – 15 days after she was arrested in a criminal intimidation case.
A former village sarpanch (headwoman), Manorama Khedkar, was nabbed from a lodge in Raigad on July 18 by the Paud Police, remanded to police custody twice and then to 14 days judicial remand.
Granting her bail on Friday, Additional Sessions Judge Ajit N. Mare imposed several conditions including not to contact or influence the complainants/witnesses, keeping off the jurisdiction of the Paud Police Station till the investigations are on, not leave Pune district and cooperating with the police and other agencies.
Manorama D. Khedkar came to prominence after a 2023 video surfaced in which she was seen waving a pistol at some farmers in Mulshi allegedly threatening them to part off with the land.
Her husband Dilip Khedkar, a retired state government employee, had been granted anticipatory bail in the same case.
Their daughter and ex-IAS-PO Puja Khedkar is embroiled in a series of shocking controversies that saw the UPSC striking down her provisional candidature from the CSE-2022 and permanently barring her from all future examinations/selections on July 31 for her various actions including flouting UPSC rules on the number of attempts for the civil services exams.
The Paud Police Station had booked the Khedkar couple and five others, besides invoking various sections of the IPC and the Arms Act.
Incidentally, Puja Khedkar – whose current whereabouts are not known since over a fortnight – was refused anticipatory bail by a Delhi Court on August 1, even as the Delhi Police and various other agencies expanded the scope of their investigations against her.
In view of the latest developments, Puja Khedkar -- who was posted in Pune and Washim collectorates -- could face arrest by the Maharashtra and Delhi Police.