Manorama Khedkar Denies Wrongdoing in Kidnapping Case and Land Dispute Controversy

On September 30, a local court in Navi Mumbai granted interim relief to Manorama Khedkar.

Mumbai:

Manorama Khedkar, mother of former Indian Administrative Service probationer Puja Khedkar who is currently at the center of two controversies, has denied any wrongdoing and attempted to distance herself from the growing allegations against her family.

"I have done nothing wrong. Dilip Khedkar and I have no relationship; we are divorced. I have no involvement in the truck cleaner kidnapping. I am innocent. I did not flee; I was attending to my personal business. All accusations against me are false," she explained to NDTV.

Manorama Khedkar is facing numerous criminal allegations that have evolved in unusual ways over the past 15 months – ranging from a widely-shared land dispute video that led to arrests and weapons charges in 2024, to a recent road-rage incident where the family stands accused of abducting a truck assistant following a collision on the Mulund-Airoli road in Navi Mumbai.

"The widely circulated gun video is authentic. I did display the weapon, but those individuals trespassed on my property, so I was merely protecting my farm. I have no knowledge of Dilip Khedkar's whereabouts. We haven't communicated. I don't know why Dilip visited my residence that day. You should inquire with him directly. I haven't destroyed any evidence. I've been set up," Manorama Khedkar told NDTV.

The initial controversy emerged last summer when footage surfaced showing a woman, subsequently identified by authorities and courts as Manorama Khedkar, wielding a pistol during a confrontation with local farmers regarding land ownership.

This footage prompted Pune Police to file an FIR, confiscate the firearm, and temporarily detain Khedkar. Law enforcement added serious charges, including attempted murder and Arms Act violations, based on the video evidence and subsequent statements from the complainant.

In the more recent controversy, authorities claim that following a minor collision on September 13, when a cement-mixer truck scraped an SUV belonging to Dilip Khedkar, the situation escalated into an abduction. The truck's assistant, identified as Prahlad Kumar, was allegedly transported to the Khedkars' residence in Pune and held there. According to police reports, when search teams attempted to locate the assistant, they encountered resistance.

Police state that Manorama Khedkar prevented officers from entering the property and, by some accounts, released dogs to intimidate law enforcement personnel. The assistant was eventually located and rescued after authorities tracked his mobile phone signal to Pune.

On September 30, a local court in Navi Mumbai granted interim relief to Manorama Khedkar in this case. Police informed the court they required the accused in custody to advance their investigation. Authorities have issued lookout notices for Dilip Khedkar, who police report remains missing.