Truck driver abducted, rescued from ex-IAS probationer Puja Khedkar's house

Mumbai/Pune | A truck driver, allegedly abducted by two persons in an SUV after a road rage incident in Navi Mumbai, has been rescued from the house of former IAS probationer Puja Khedkar in Pune, police said on Monday.

The Pune police have registered a case against Puja Khedkar's mother Manorama Khedkar for allegedly obstructing police when they tried to enter the house to look for the driver on Sunday, they said.

Besides, the Navi Mumbai police have registered a case of kidnapping against the SUV occupants.

Puja Khedkar has been accused of cheating and wrongly availing OBC and disability quota benefits in the civil services examination.

The alleged abduction took place on Mulund-Airoli road in Navi Mumbai township adjoining Mumbai on Saturday evening when Prahlad Kumar (22) was driving his concrete mixer truck, the police said.

The truck brushed against a sports utility vehicle, following which an argument took place between Kumar and two persons onboard the SUV, a Rabale police official said.

The SUV occupants then forcibly took Kumar in their vehicle under the pretext of taking him to a police station and fled the spot, the official said.

Based on a complaint lodged by the truck owner, Rabale Police in Navi Mumbai registered a case under section 137(2) (kidnapping) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against two unidentified persons on Sunday.

The police later tracked the SUV to Pune.

Based on technical evidence, the Navi Mumbai police found that Kumar was taken to Pune, following which a team went there on Sunday, the official said.

"We traced the vehicle and the victim to a bungalow belonging to Puja Khedkar," the official said.

Initially, Khedkar's mother allegedly prevented the police from entering the house and got into a quarrel with them, the official said.

However, the police team later managed to enter the house. They rescued Kumar from there and brought him back to Navi Mumbai, he said.

"A team from Rabale police station had come in connection with the case of kidnapping of a truck driver, who was traced to Manorama Khedkar's bungalow in Pune. When the police team reached her bungalow for the investigation, she did not cooperate with them and allegedly obstructed them from discharging their duties," Pune's Chatushrungi police station's senior inspector Uttam Bhajanawale said.

He said after the road rage incident, the two car occupants, instead of taking the truck driver to a police station, took him forcibly in their vehicle to Manorama's bungalow.

"The team had come to probe the matter, however, Manorama Khedkar allegedly obstructed them from discharging their duties and did not cooperate with them," said Bhajanawale.

Following a complaint by a Rabale police officer, a case has been registered by the Chatushrungi police in Pune against her under BNS section 221 (obstructing any public servant in the discharge of his public functions), he said.

The Navi Mumbai police have also issued a notice to Manorama Khedkar to appear before them for questioning.

"Further investigation is underway to identify the kidnappers and their motive," the police added.

Puja Khedkar is accused of misrepresenting facts in her application for the 2022 UPSC civil services examination to avail herself of reservation benefits. She has refuted all the allegations against her.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has initiated a series of actions against Khedkar, including lodging of a criminal case, for availing attempts in the civil services exam by faking her identity, while the Delhi Police had lodged an FIR against her for various offences.

After the controversy erupted over Puja Khedkar's appointment as a probationary IAS officer, a video surfaced last year in which her mother was seen threatening a farmer. Manorama Khedkar was subsequently arrested and later released on bail.