Embattled trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar may be dismissed from service if she is found guilty of violation of rules of appointment, official sources said on Friday, even as a video emerged where her mother can be seen threatening a group of men with a gun over a land dispute.
The 32-year-old civil servant is in the eye of a storm over alleged misuse of power and claims that she made in her UPSC candidature. She had courted controversy over using a siren on her private Audi and raising demands for a separate house and car – privileges not available to junior officers.
She was also found using the Pune Additional Collector Ajay More’s office while he was away. She reportedly removed office furniture and even demanded letterheads and a VIP number plate. These perks are not available for junior officers – who are on probation for 24 months.
Officials said the 2023-batch IAS officer faces far more serious charges that raise questions about her selection process in the civil services.
According to sources, Manoj Dwivedi, additional secretary, Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), has started the investigation against her.
Khedkar was transferred from Pune to Washim amid the allegations.
Asked to comment on the charges leveled against her, she said she is not authorized to speak on the matter. “I am not authorized to say anything to the media. I will give my submissions before the committee. I will follow the procedure,” she said.
Reports suggest that her father – a retired administrative officer – had even pushed for her demands to be fulfilled.
Questions have also arisen over her claim of Other Backward Classes (OBC) status. She had also claimed several disabilities to avail concessions in the UPSC selection process, but refused to undergo mandatory medical tests to confirm those.
Meanwhile, a video emerged on social media purportedly showing Khedkar’s mother Manorama holding a pistol in her hand, arguing with a farmer over a land dispute. The Pune police have taken cognizance of the video.
Reports also claimed that on May 18, Khedkar allegedly called Navi Mumbai’s Deputy Commissioner of Police Vivek Pansare and urged him to release a transporter, Ishwar Uttarwade, arrested in a theft case.
Uttarwade, a builder’s recognised supplier of steel for his transport company, was detained after the latter disclosed stock loss. The truck driver admitted to carrying the shipment when police apprehended him, but he could not provide any information about the business’s owner.
Uttarwade was arrested when it was discovered that a weighing scale chip had been altered prior to the steel being loaded. After that, on May 18, Khedkar contacted Pansare and demanded his release, claiming that “the charges against him were small” and that he was innocent.