Puja Khedkar Case: Pune Police to Probe Disability Claims By IAS Trainee, To File FIR If Proven Fake

The Office of the Commissioner For Persons With Disabilities has written to the Pune police and the district collectorate to investigate the disability claims made by IAS probationer Puja Khedkar. In the letter, the disability commissioner asked the police to register a case if the medical certificates pertaining to these claims are found to be bogus.

Khedkar is facing accusations of using fraudulent means to clear her civil services exam, including allegedly misrepresenting herself under the physical disabilities and OBC categories, and misusing power and privileges during her posting in Pune.

According to officials, Pune police will conduct an inquiry into the authenticity of the medical certificates submitted by the controversial junior officer, who is accused of misrepresenting herself under the physical disabilities category.

“We have received a letter from the Office of the Commissioner For Persons With Disabilities. They have asked us to check the authenticity of certificates submitted by Puja Khedkar. We will verify the facts about these certificates, from where they were obtained, which doctor or hospitals certified them will also be scanned,” a senior police official said.

Khedkar, who is posted in Washim district as of now, had submitted to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) multiple medical certificates — one of them indicating visual impairment, under the Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) provision. It has also emerged that she had submitted a fitness certificate while securing admission to a private medical college in 2007.

Obtained ‘locomotor disability’ certificate from Pimpri hospital on fake address

A senior official said the 2023-batch officer had obtained a partial “locomotor disability” certificate from Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital in Pimpri in Pune district in August 2022. But, she obtained this certificate, under a fake address and attaching her ration card as proof, sources told News18. They added that the address on this certificate is of ‘Thermoverta Engineering Company’, under which her luxury Audi car was also registered.

“She applied for disability certification about her left limb knee joint back in 2022. She visited here for medical examinations and was assessed by multiple departments,” said Dr Rajendra Wable, dean of the government-run Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital at Pimpri.

He added: “It was found that she has a 7 per cent locomotor disability.”

The certificate, issued on August 24, 2022, stated that she had 7 per cent disability in the knee. Khedkar had earlier submitted two certificates, provided by the Ahmednagar District Civil Hospital in 2018 and 2021, to the UPSC under the PwBD category. Additionally, she had applied for a disability certificate from the Aundh government hospital in Pune in August 2022, but after medical tests her application was rejected.

While Khedkar has called the accusations a “misinformation campaign against her”, last week the Centre set up a single-member committee to verify her candidature and submit a report in two weeks. The government said the probe will be conducted by an additional secretary-rank officer to verify the candidature claims and other details of the IAS officer.

On July 14, Pune police confiscated a luxury car used by Puja by allegedly installing a red beacon light on it illegally. They have also been looking for her parents in a separate criminal case, after an FIR was registered against the couple and five others after a video emerged showing Puja’s mother Manorama Khedkar, a village sarpanch, allegedly threatening some persons with a gun over a land dispute.

(With PTI inputs)