Puja Khedkar's dad gets temporary protection from arrest in criminal intimidation case

Pune, July 19 (PTI) A sessions court here has granted interim protection from arrest till July 25 to Dilip Khedkar, father of controversial probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, in a case where he is accused of threatening a person with a gun over a land dispute.

Pune Rural police on Thursday arrested Manorama Khedkar, his wife and Puja's mother, in the same case. Manorama was remanded in police custody till July 20.

Dilip Khedkar has moved the court seeking pre-arrest (`anticipatory') bail.

Judge A N Mare granted him "ad-interim protection from arrest" till July 25, the next date of hearing, said a lawyer representing him. If the police arrests him before that, he will have to be released on bail, the lawyer added.

A case has been registered at Paud police station against Dilip and Manorama Khedkar besides five others under Indian Penal Code sections 307 (attempt to murder), 144 (unlawful assembly armed with deadly weapon), 147 (rioting) and 506 (criminal intimidation) and also under the Arms Act.

The First Information Report was registered after a viral video showed Manorama purportedly threatening some persons with a gun at Dhadwali village in Pune's Mulshi tehsil. The incident had taken place in 2023.

Earlier in the day, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) said it had lodged a criminal case against Puja Khedkar for faking her identity to fraudulently avail of attempts in the civil services examination beyond eligibility, and taken steps to debar her from future selections.