An old video showing trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar's mother threatening a group of men with a gun in her hand has surfaced online, adding to the troubles of the junior officer caught in the middle of a massive controversy.
The 2023 batch officer is accused of posing as an OBC non-creamy layer candidate in her UPSC candidature and also claimed she was visually and mentally disabled but refused to take tests to corroborate her claims.
It is alleged that Puja's father Dilip Khedkar, a retired IAS officer, amassed property worth crores of rupees and bought land at several locations including 25 acres in Mulshi taluka of Pune district.
But locals allege that the family also tried to occupy the land of neighbouring farmers. When the farmers opposed this, Ms Khedkar's mother Manorama Khedkar reached the property with her security guards.
In a two-minute video recorded by one of the locals, Manorama Khedkar can be seen yelling at a man with a pocket pistol in her hand. She walks up to him and waves the gun in his face before concealing it in her hand when she sees the camera. "Show me the satbara (land documents). The land documents have my name," she warns the man in Marathi. He replies that his name is on the land document and the case is in court. She then asks to see the court order and warns the man not to "teach me the rules".
Farmers also allege that they tried to file a complaint at Pune's Paud Police Station in Pune against the family but were turned away.
In exclusively accessed documents, NDTV found that according to a "statement of immovable property for the year 2023", Puja Khedkar owns five plots of land and two apartments across Maharashtra valued at a staggering Rs 22 crore.
She also owns two apartments in Ahmednagar and Pune worth Rs 45 lakh and Rs 75 lakh respectively.
The junior officer is facing serious charges of "abuse of power". It is alleged that she was using a red beacon, VIP number plates, and a "Government of Maharashtra" sticker on her private vehicle, an Audi sedan.
She was also using Additional Collector Ajay More's office while he was away and reportedly removed office furniture and even demanded letterheads.
Amid the escalating row, she has been transferred to Washim.
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