Court extends police custody of Puja Khedkar’s mother till July 22

Police booked Manorama and Dilip Khedkar and four others after a video surfaced showing her allegedly threatening people with a gun over a land dispute last year

Manorama Khedkar, mother of IAS trainee Puja Khedkar. File | Photo Credit: ANI

A court in Maharashtra’s Pune district on July 20 extended the police custody of Manorama Khedkar in a case concerning alleged criminal intimidation tied to a land dispute till July 22.

Manorama Khedkar is the mother of IAS probationer Puja Khedkar. Ms. Manorama Khedkar was apprehended on July 18 from a lodge, where she was hiding, at Hirkaniwadi village near Mahad in Raigad district.

Police booked Ms. Puja Khedkar’s parents Manorama and Dilip and four others after a video surfaced showing her allegedly threatening some persons with a gun over a land dispute at Dhadwali village in the district’s Mulshi tehsil last year. According to police, the couple and four others threatened Pandharinath Pasalkar (65) with a gun over a land on June 4, 2023.

The prosecution told the court that they had recovered the pistol used in the crime.

The Paud police in Pune rural had booked the Khedkar couple and other accused under IPC sections, including 307 (attempt to murder), 144 (unlawful assembly armed with a deadly weapon), 147 (rioting) and 506 (criminal intimidation) besides invoking the Arms Act.

Public Prosecutor Amar Nanaware told the court on July 20 that there was progress in the investigation as the police had recovered a pistol and a vehicle used in the crime. Seeking her further custody, the public prosecutor said Ms. Manorama Khedkar had disclosed the names of two male accused seen in the video but was silent on the other two unidentified female accused.

Defence counsel Vijay Jagtap argued that the IPC section 307 (attempt to murder) is not applicable in the case as no bullet was fired and that she deserves bail.