The Pune City police on Monday filed a first information report against Manorama Khedkar, the mother of former Indian Administrative Service probationer Puja Khedkar, for allegedly obstructing the investigation into the abduction of a truck helper, The Indian Express reported.
The helper, Prahlad Kumar, was abducted from Navi Mumbai following a road rage incident on Saturday and was rescued from Puja Khedkar’s Pune home on Sunday.
The police alleged that Manorama Khedkar helped the suspects escape, prevented the police from entering the house and even unleashed an aggressive dog to stop them from carrying out a search, The Indian Express reported.
The police have invoked sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to obstructing a public servant in the discharge of duty, causing the disappearance of evidence and obstructing the lawful apprehension of another person.
The road rage incident occurred around 7 pm on September 13, when a concrete mixer truck in Navi Mumbai’s Airoli area hit an SUV. After an argument broke out, the driver of the SUV told Kumar to accompany him to the Rabale police station in Navi Mumbai. Kumar subsequently went missing.
The complaint about the abduction was filed by Vilas Dhengre, who owns the concrete mixer, The Times of India reported. He said that around 8.30 pm on September 13, the driver of the truck, Chandrakumar Chavan, told him that Kumar was not answering his calls.
Dhengre and Chavan subsequently met in Kharghar near Navi Mumbai and began searching for Kumar.
On the basis of technical evidence, the police found that the truck helper had been taken to Pune. A police team then went to the city and found him at Puja Khedkar’s bungalow.
Senior Inspector Balkrushna Sawant said that those at the bungalow did not cooperate with the police, and that Manorama Khedkar had been asked to report to the police station.
Further, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-1) Pankaj Dahane told The Times of India that the SUV is in the name of Puja Automobiles, which is registered at the address of Khedkar’s bungalow in Pune.
The police are now trying to identify the two suspects and their link with the Khedkar family.
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