'Sedated and Tied': Sacked IAS Trainee Officer Puja Khedkar Alleges House Help Robbed Family in Pune, Probe Underway

The Pune police had launched a probe after the former IAS probationer Puja Khedkar's allegations that a house help had rendered her and her parents unconscious and committed theft at their residence, an official said on Sunday.

Sacked IAS trainee officer Puja Khedkar informed the police late on Saturday night about the alleged incident that occurred at the family's bungalow on Baner Road.

According to police, she claimed that a house help hailing from Nepal, who had been employed recently, 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.

Who is Puja Khedkar?

Khedkar, an all-India rank (AIR) holder of 821 in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams, was serving as a probationary IAS officer but was transferred from Pune to the Washim district of Maharashtra after Pune collector Suhas Divase wrote a letter to the chief secretary of Maharashtra. 

She grabbed headlines after reports surfaced about her alleged demands for a separate office, an official car, and the unauthorised use of a beacon on her private vehicle. The Pune police had visited her residence to investigate her use of an Audi car, which is suspected to have violated service regulations.

The Delhi police had also filed an FIR against her following a complaint lodged by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). 

Earlier, the UPSC had cancelled the provisional candidature of probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar and barred her from all future examinations and selections. Issuing a statement, the Commission said, "The UPSC has examined the available records carefully and found her guilty of acting in contravention of the provisions of the CSE-2022 Rules."

The statement confirmed that her provisional candidature for the CSE-2022 (Civil Services Examination-2022) has been "cancelled" and she has been "debarred permanently" from all future UPSC examinations or selections.

The commission issued a show cause notice (SCN) to Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar on July 18 for "fraudulently" availing attempts beyond the permissible limit in the examination by "faking" her identity. 

Khedkar deceitfully claimed to have visual and mental disabilities and altered her identity to pass the Civil Services entrance exam. She bypassed the six-attempt limit for general category candidates by taking the highly competitive test multiple times under different names.  

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