IAS Trainee Puja Khedkar Could Be Sacked If Found Guilty; Cops Say She Pressured DCP To Release Kin Arrested In Theft Case

Trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar, who is embroiled in a controversy over alleged misuse of power, may get terminated from service if the claims she made in her UPSC candidature are found untrue. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has started an investigation into the allegations against her, which will be completed in two weeks.All documents presented by the probationary IAS officer to secure her candidature in the civil services examination and then for selection in the service will be re-examined by a single-member committee constituted by the Centre on Thursday, news agency PTI reported quoting sources. "The panel has started its investigation. She may be terminated from the service if found guilty. She may face criminal charges also in case she is found to have misrepresented a fact or done any sort of manipulation in documents relied upon for her selection," a PTI source said.As per sources, a single-member probe committee of Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, Additional Secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training, has been asked to submit its report within two weeks.Khedkar came under scanner over using a siren on her private Audi and raising demands for a separate house and car - privileges not available to junior officers. She is under probation and currently posted in her home cadre Maharashtra.But Khedkar, a 2023 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, now faces far more serious charges that raise questions about her selection process in the civil services. She is under probation and currently posted in her home cadre Maharashtra. The 34-year-old officer is in the eye of a storm over for allegedly misusing the disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) quota to secure a position in the IAS.In the meantime, Khedkar on July 11 assumed her new role as assistant collector at the Washim District Collectorate in the Vidarbha region after being transferred from Pune where she allegedly bullied everyone around and also placed a red beacon atop a private Audi (a luxury sedan) car used by her that also had 'Maharashtra Government' written on it. The controversial officer was shunted out to Washim after Pune district collector Suhas Diwase wrote to state additional chief secretary Nitin Gadre requesting him to consider giving a posting to Khedkar in another district to avoid administrative complications. Diwase had sought action against Khedkar for her behaviour, including alleged aggressive treatment of junior staff, illegal occupation of the ante-chamber of additional collector Ajay More, and violations pertaining to sporting a red beacon on the Audi and flashing it during the day, among others.The Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO) has also issued a notice to a private company in the city, which is the registered owner of the Audi car used by Khedkar.In a related development, Navi Mumbai police have reported to the Maharashtra government that Khedkar had allegedly tried to pressure a DCP-rank officer to release a man held in a theft case, an official said on Friday. The incident had occurred on May 18 at Panvel police station wherein Khedkar allegedly phoned Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Vivek Pansare and urged him to release a transporter, Ishwar Uttarwade, arrested in a theft case.