Manorama Khedkar, mother of the embattled IAS trainee officer Puja Khedkar, has been arrested and charged with ‘attempt to murder’ following a viral video showing her brandishing a firearm and threatening villagers. The Pune rural police apprehended Manorama in Maharashtra’s Raigad district and she has been remanded to police custody until Saturday, July 20.

In the widely circulated video, Manorama is seen in a heated dispute with villagers over a land dispute, wielding a pistol and threatening the locals. The incident has led to charges under the Arms Act and relevant sections of the new criminal code, Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, along with the attempted murder charge.

Manorama’s arrest follows allegations from local villagers that the Khedkar family had encroached on neighboring farmland. The two-minute clip captures Manorama, escorted by security guards, in a fervent argument, aggressively brandishing the firearm before attempting to conceal it.

This incident has further fueled controversy surrounding the Khedkar family. Puja Khedkar’s father, Dilip Khedkar, has faced his own legal challenges, including two suspensions during his tenure with the Maharashtra government on charges of corruption and extortion. Currently, an open inquiry into Dilip Khedkar is being conducted by the Ahmednagar unit, as confirmed by Pune ACB Superintendent of Police Amol Tambe.

Puja Khedkar, a 2023-batch IAS officer, has been under scrutiny for allegedly misrepresenting herself as an OBC non-creamy layer candidate in her UPSC application. Additionally, she claimed visual and mental disabilities but refused to undergo verification tests. Reports also surfaced about her demanding a separate office and official car, and using a beacon on her private vehicle without authorization during her posting in Pune, leading to her transfer to Washim.

In response to these controversies, the government has halted Puja Khedkar’s district training program, summoning her back to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie for “necessary action.”