Did fired IAS intern Puja Khedkar flee India to Dubai?

 

Did fired IAS intern Puja Khedkar flee India to Dubai? Here's the truth

The fired IAS trainee disappeared fearing arrest, leading authorities to search for Khedkar. She has also reportedly switched off her phone.

Fired IAS intern Puja Khedkar is still in India and has not fled the country, sources said. Earlier reports had said she had fled to Dubai fearing arrest. No immigration records of Khedkar's travels have been found, the official said.

Authorities are searching for Khedkar as the fired IAS trainee has gone missing fearing arrest. She has also reportedly switched off her mobile phone.

"Interrogation of the accused in custody is necessary to unravel the entire conspiracy and to ascertain the involvement of other persons involved in the conspiracy," Additional Judge Devender Kumar Jangara said.

Khedkar, who was not arrested in the case, approached the court through her lawyer and said she was "in imminent danger of arrest."

On Khedkar's contention that she was wrongly implicated in the case and was the victim of a media trial and witch hunt, the judge said this argument was untenable as incriminating material was well preserved. "Hence, reporting of incriminating details on record cannot be considered as a 'media trial' or a 'witch hunt,'" the judge said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the UPSC cancelled Khedkar's provisional candidature and barred her from appearing in future examinations.

On July 18, the UPSC issued a Show Cause Notice (SCN) to Khedkar, a provisionally recommended candidate for the Civil Services Examination-2022 (CSE-2022), for committing fraud beyond what is permitted under the examination regulations by misrepresenting her identity.

She was asked to submit her reply to the SCN by July 25. However, she sought more time till August 4 to collect documents required for her reply, but failed to do so despite the deadline of July 30 for submission of the documents.

Khedkar, a 2023 batch IAS officer, is accused of posing as a candidate from a non-upper caste OBC family while running for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). She also claimed to be visually and mentally impaired but refused to undergo tests to verify the claims. The UPSC had registered a criminal case against her for allegedly manipulating her identity, including her parents' names, to secure a government job. The Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, had sent eight memos to Khedkar citing irregularities during training. These mounting charges against her led to increased pressure to arrest her.

She came into the limelight after reports emerged about her alleged demand for her own office and company car while on duty in Pune and misuse of traffic lights in her personal car. She was subsequently transferred from Pune to Wasim.