IAS trainee's mother is booked for murder bid

The police have booked Manorama Khedkar, the mother of IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, for attempt to murder, as they sought her custody for five days in a land dispute case.

Cops have described Manorama, her husband Dilip and three others, all shown as accused in the FIR, as 'influential and politically active' persons, at the court in Paud that remanded Manorama in police custody till July 20.

A search was launched for Manorama and her husband after a video surfaced showing her allegedly threatening some persons with a gun, over a land dispute at Dhadwali village in Mulshi tehsil, Pune, in 2023. Manorama was 'missing' for nearly a week after the video went viral on social media.

The prosecution told the court that the accused had placed the gun on the complainant's head. When she was about to pull the trigger, the complainant ducked in fear, while the other accused restrained her, police told the court.

Manorama is neither cooperating with the investigators nor sharing information on the whereabouts of her husband and the other three accused; nor is she divulging details about the pistol and the four-wheeler used in the crime, the police claimed.