NEW DELHI, July 24
The Delhi Police is likely to send a notice to IAS probationer Puja Khedkar for joining the probe early in a case of cheating and forgery registered against her last week, official sources said on Wednesday.
The Delhi Police has started gathering documents and other evidences for the case.
Khedkar was allegedly booked by the Delhi Police Crime Branch on July 19 for misusing the disability and Other Backward Class (non-creamy layer) quotas to secure her candidature in the civil services exam.
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has filed a police case against Khedkar for allegedly fraudulently availing the civil services examination by faking her identity to take the exam beyond the permissible number of attempts.
According to an official source, a dedicated team led by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) level of the Crime Branch has been tasked to collect the documents from various government departments.
The team, after compiling the documents, may send a notice to Khedkar for joining the probe, the source said, adding they will confront her with the alleged forged documents. A case under section 420 (cheating), 464 (making a document in the name of a fictitious person), 465 (forgery) and 471 (passing off a forged document as genuine) of IPC and under sections 89 and 91 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act and 66D of the Information Technology Act was registered against Khedkar.
The 2023-batch IAS officer, who was a probationary assistant collector at the Pune district collectorate, was transferred to Washim from Pune earlier this month amid allegations that she misrepresented herself under the physical disabilities category.
During her stint in Pune, she allegedly misused power and privileges by demanding perks and facilities she was not entitled to. She is also accused of availing the OBC and non-creamy layer quota in the UPSC.
Following the allegations against her, her probation period was put on hold and she was recalled to Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Uttarakhand’s Mussoorie.
