Pune Court Sends Probationary IAS Officer Puja Khedkar’s Mother to Judicial Custody

Pune court on Monday sent Manorama Khedkar, the mother of IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, to 14 days of judicial custody in connection with a case involving threats made against a farmer.

Manorama Khedkar allegedly threatened an individual with a gun over a land dispute in June of the previous year.

She was arrested on Thursday (July 18) from a lodge in Raigad district, where she had been hiding, and was presented before a judicial magistrate. The prosecution claimed that Manorama, along with her husband and three others, threatened the complainant with a gun. They added Section 307, alleging that she placed a gun to the complainant’s head and was about to pull the trigger.

Previously, the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) had sealed a company named ThermoVerita, linked to Manorama Khedkar, located in Pune, due to an alleged tax default amounting to Rs 2.77 lakh. This action comes amid controversy surrounding probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, who reportedly used the company’s address to obtain a disability certificate from YCM Hospital Pimpri Chinchwad.

“The property tax for 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 for Thermoverita India Pvt. Ltd has been pending for the last two years. Additionally, the current year’s outstanding dues are also unpaid,” said Shekhar Singh, Commissioner of PCMC.

Singh added, “As their dues remained unpaid in 2023, we initially issued notices and subsequently disconnected their water supply as a graded response. Since the dues have been outstanding for the last two years, our next step was to seal the property.”

The Commissioner noted that the total outstanding amount for the last two years is Rs 1.96 lakh, and including the current year’s dues, the total comes to Rs 2.77 lakh.

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