IAS Officer Puja Khedkar Allegedly Misuses Licensed Gun and Luxury Sedan, Faces Show-Cause Notice and Seizure

The Pune Police have issued a show-cause notice to the mother of controversial IAS probationer over the alleged misuse of a licensed gun. Pune Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar issued a show-cause notice to Manorama Khedkar, who is the sarpanch (head) of Ahmednagar’s Bhalgaon village. She was seen brandishing a pistol at a farmer during a heated dispute over a plot of land in a viral video clip reportedly from 2023 which surfaced recently.

Pune Rural police sources said that the show-cause notice had been pasted on the door of the Khedkar residence as no one turned up physically to receive the notice. Ms. Manorama Khedkar has been given 10 days to respond to the notice as to why her gun licence should not be cancelled, said sources.

A case has also been registered against her under the Arms Act by the Pune Rural Police who have finally acted on a complaint made by the farmer who alleged that Ms. Manorama Khedkar and others had reportedly threatened him over a case of land dispute.

The video clip, which surfaced after controversies related to Ms. Pooja Khedkar’s came to light, shows Ms. Manorama Khedkar verbally browbeating the farmer with a pocket pistol in her hand. Accompanied by bouncers, the two-minute video has Ms. Manorama Khedkar arguing about ownership of a plot of land in Pune’s Mulshi tehsil with the farmer.

Meanwhile, in another development, the Pune Police have confiscated the private luxury sedan used by Ms. Pooja Khedkar on which she had stuck a ‘Government of Maharashtra’ sticker and illegally installed a red-blue beacon.

Explained | A 2023 batch IAS officer, the 32-year-old Puja Khedkar hit headlines after it emerged that she had sought special privileges including a separate office, house, car, and staff (including a constable) before taking charge as an Assistant Collector — perks not given to trainee officers.

Most damaging were allegations of her faking mental illness to secure a disability certificate and appearing for the UPSC exam under the visually impaired category.

The revelations prompted the Central government to form a single-member committee to examine the controversy around Ms. Khedkar’s candidature.