Manorama Khedkar, the mother of former IAS probationer Pooja Khedkar, who faces questioning in connection with the alleged kidnapping of a truck helper and obstruction of police action, denied any involvement in the case and alleged she is being "accused" and "targeted" by the police.
Addressing the media on Thursday after appearing for questioning at the Rabale police station, Manorama Khedkar maintained her innocence and said, "I am cooperating with the police in the investigation, yet I am being accused, targeted."
She added, "I have not committed any crime, so there is nothing to fear, I have no involvement in this."
Khedkar highlighted the ongoing "court process" and questioned why she wouldn't cooperate, citing her voluntary appearance at the police station.
"The court process is ongoing. Why wouldn't I cooperate? I am coming to the police station for questioning," Khedkar said.
Manorama Khedkar has been granted interim bail by the Belapur Court in Navi Mumbai, and the next hearing on her bail plea is scheduled for October 13.
During the hearing on her husband Dilip Khedkar's bail plea, Navi Mumbai Police told the court that Manorama Khedkar was deliberately not cooperating with the investigation.
Notably, a Navi Mumbai court on Wednesday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Dilip Khedkar. Opposing the bail, police said Dilip and his wife Manorama tampered with evidence by making the CCTV DVR disappear, hiding the SUV, and concealing the victim's mobile phone, according to a report by PTI.
Police also alleged that Manorama appeared for questioning after sunset to misuse the legal bar on interrogating women at night, delaying the probe. She has since been appearing at times that allow her statement to be recorded before night hours.
Manorama Khedkar faces a string of criminal allegations that have taken several strange turns over the past 15 months -- from a viral land-dispute video that prompted arrests and an arms act charge in 2024, to this road-rage case in which the family is accused of kidnapping a truck helper after a collision on the Mulund-Airoli road in Navi Mumbai.
Police allege that after a minor collision on September 13, when a cement-mixer truck grazed an SUV owned by Dilip Khedkar, the matter escalated into a kidnapping. The truck's helper, identified as Prahlad Kumar, was driven to the Khedkars' Pune bungalow and confined there. According to police, when search teams tried to locate the helper, they faced obstruction.
Police had also said that Manorama Khedkar prevented officers from entering the premises and, in one account, released dogs to intimidate the cops. The helper was eventually traced and rescued after his phone signal was tracked to Pune.
