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Journalism of Courage
Pune Rural police have taken cognisance of a video that emerged on social media purportedly showing Manorama Khedkar, the mother of probationary officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Pooja Khedkar, quarrelling with a farmer over a land dispute.
A First Information Report (FIR) was lodged at Paud police station on Friday night by a 65-year-old farmer against Manorama Khedkar, Dilip Khedkar and others as per IPC sections 323, 504, 506, 143, 144, 147, 148 and 149 and sections of the Indian Arms Act.
In the video, Manorama is seen accompanied by a few bouncers and holding what appears to be a pistol engaging in a heated argument with a farmer who ostensibly objects to her cultivating a disputed portion of the land. The incident is said to have taken place on June 5, 2023 at village Dhadwali in Mulshi tehsil of Pune district.
On Friday, farmers who had a dispute with Manorama approached Pune rural police officials and later went to Paud police station to lodge a complaint against her.
While no complaint was filed against Manorama at the time of the incident, Pankaj Deshmukh, superintendent of Pune rural police, confirmed that an offence was lodged in this case as per the statement given by the farmer.
The police said it will also probe if Manorama had a licence to own a firearm. Meanwhile, as per the election affidavit submitted by Diliprao Khedkar, Pooja’s father who is a retired government officer, when he contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Ahmednagar South constituency, the family owns considerable land in the village.
As per the affidavit, Dilip owns 1.21 hectare and his wife Manorama owns 4.115 hectare of agricultural land in Dhadwali village. Pooja has separately declared in a disclosure to the government that she owns 4.74 hectare in Dhadwali village. The family owns a collective 8.86 hectare (21.89 acres) of agricultural land in Dhadwali where the alleged incident took place.
Meanwhile, the luxury car on which the state government insignia was unauthorisedly installed by Khedkar has been shifted out of the family’s bungalow in National Housing Society, Aundh.
On Thursday, Pune city traffic police issued a notice to Khedkar in connection to the unauthorised use of a beacon and Maharashtra state government insignia on this luxury car. Police said a fine of about Rs 27,000 was pending for traffic violations on this car.
Members of the press also discovered that of the five cars parked in the compound on Thursday, two were shifted out.
On Thursday, a team from Traffic Control Branch of Pune city police had gone to her residence to take action against the Audi car on which the beacon and the insignia were fitted but the family did not allow them to enter the premises.
