IAS-PO Pooja Khedkar's mom intimidates Pune farmer with pistol; probe sought

Pune (Maharashtra), July 12 (IANS) Spelling more trouble for the controversial Washim Assistant Collector and IAS-Probationary Officer (PO) Pooja 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 happened around two months ago in 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.

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.

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 Pooja Khedkar was shunted from the Pune Collectorate to the Washim Collectorate as an Assistant Collector where she took charge on July 11.

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 Pooja D Khedkar, have tumbled out. The Centre and state have already launched independent probes against Pooja D 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.

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, 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 Pooja Khedkar’s home, though the exact reasons were not immediately known.