Maharashtra news: Creating more and more trouble for the controversial IAS-Probationary Officer (PO) cum trainee and Washim Assistant Collector Puja Dilip Khedkar, her mother allegedly threatened a Pune farmer with a pistol in a bid to force him to sell his land.
Videos of the incident, which took place around two months back in the Mulshi region, have surfaced now showing a menacing Manorama D Khedkar first flashing and then pointing a pistol and indulging in a heated argument with a farmer over a land issue.
Brandishing weapon at farmers in Pune
Accompanied by a professional team of male bouncers and female security personnel, Manorama Khedkar had a heated exchange with the farmer, all the while brandishing the weapon at him. The aggrieved farmers of the area later claimed they were making efforts to lodge a complaint with the police on the incident, but were not entertained, reportedly owing to political pressure. However, now they have demanded a thorough investigation into that harrowing incident.
Khedkar family owns over 25 acres of land in Pune
As per records of their assets, the Khedkar family owns over 25 acres of land in Pune and sought to augment their holdings there by compelling neighbouring tillers to sell off their lands, but most have resisted the efforts.
Incidentally, after a massive row erupted in the last few days, IAS-PO Puja Khedkar was shunted from the Pune Collectorate to the Washim Collectorate as an Assistant Collector where she took charge on July 11.
Probe launched against Puja Khedkar
Following a campaign by RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar, eye-popping details of the affluence of the aristocratic family comprising Dilip K Khedkar, Manorama D Khedkar and their daughter Puja D Khedkar, have tumbled out. The Centre and state have already launched independent probes against Puja Khedkar for her various alleged actions as an IAS-PO, the documents pertaining to her OBC non-creamy layer certificate, medical records, traffic police data, etc.
Pune Traffic Police served notice seeking to probe Puja's private car
Besides the government, the Pune Chaturshringi Traffic Police Department has also served her a notice seeking to probe her private Audi A4 car on which she had illegally affixed ‘Maharashtra Government’ stickers and also a 'beacon light' (lal batti), plus demanded other perks and privileges no IAS-PO is entitled to, till their name is published in a gazette.
In another development, a team from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) with two vans and a bulldozer was stationed outside Puja Khedkar’s home, though the exact reasons were not immediately known.
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