Suspended Indian Administrative Service (IAS) trainee Puja Khedkar has alleged that a domestic servant sedated her parents and carried out a burglary at their family’s bungalow in National Housing Society
in the Aundh area of Pune.
According to police, Puja informed the Chaturshringi police station over the phone about a theft incident that took place on Saturday night at the family’s bungalow on Baner Road, news agency PTI reported.
Puja told the police that one of the servants, a native of Nepal, whom her family recently hired, administered sedatives to her and her parents, Dilip and Manorama Khedkar, rendered them unconscious, tied them up, and decamped with their mobile phones and some valuables.
Khedkar claimed that she later regained consciousness, managed to free herself, and used another phone to alert the police. As per cops, information was received from Puja around 1:30 am about a theft at their bungalow.
Soon, a team from Chaturshringi police station reached the spot. The police said Puja and her brothers, Vinay Budhwant and Harshad Budhwant, were at the bungalow when the team reached there. When the police checked the bungalow, the watchman was found unconscious in the car parking lot. Meanwhile, Dilip and Manorama were found unconscious and were immediately shifted to a private hospital for treatment. Police said their condition is now stable.
A police official said that, however, the information was shared verbally and that no formal written complaint has yet been filed. Details of the items allegedly stolen have also not been formally listed.
Meanwhile, Pune police said a preliminary inquiry has been initiated to verify the claims and establish the sequence of events. The police said that CCTV cameras at the bungalow were not functional. So, they are checking videos captured by CCTV cameras at other points to get clues about the suspect.
Who Is Puja Khedkar?
Puja Khedkar, a 2023-batch IAS officer, was accused of posing as an OBC non-creamy layer candidate in her Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) candidature. She had claimed that she was visually and mentally disabled, but had refused to take tests to corroborate her claims.
She had made headlines over her alleged demands for a separate office, staff and quarters — which she is not entitled to as a probationer. She had also unauthorisedly installed a beacon and Maharashtra state government insignia on her luxury Audi car.
Amid these allegations, she was dismissed from the Indian Administrative Service after the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) cancelled her selection in September 2024. After cancelling her selection, the UPSC had barred her from taking the entrance exam for life.
In another controversy, last year, police registered a case against Dilip and Manorama Khedkar over the alleged abduction of a truck driver following a road rage incident in Navi Mumbai. That case had triggered widespread discussion and legal action at the time.
(With inputs from agencies)
