Pune/Navi Mumbai: Chatushrungi police on Sunday night registered a case of obstructing public servant from performing his duty against “Manorama Khedkar, mother of dismissed IAS officer Puja Khedkar, and others” based on a complaint by sub inspector Deepak Kharat of Rabale police in Navi Mumbai.Rabale police had filed an FIR following a road rage incident in which the helper of a cement mixer was abducted by a person driving an SUV which brushed past the heavy vehicle on Mulund-Airoli road on Saturday evening. The SUV was in the name of Puja Automobiles, which is registered at the address of Puja Khedkar’s bungalow on Baner Road in Pune.Kharat stated in his complaint that he and his team visited Khedkar’s bungalow around 1.15pm on Sunday in connection with the investigation in the abduction case. For more than an hour, Manorama, who was spotted by police inside the bungalow, did not allow them to enter the building. In between, the abducted helper was sent outside.The Rabale police team then visited the Chatushrungi police station seeking their help as they also wanted to impound the SUV used in the alleged abduction and was seen on the bungalow premises. By the time, a joint team of Rabale and Chatushringi police reached the bungalow by 4.15pm on Sunday, Khedkar had shifted the SUV out of the bungalow and also let her dog loose on the bungalow premises. The dog also charged at one of the policemen.On Monday, the police team again visited Khedkar’s bungalow along with pancha witnesses to draw a panchanama of the spot but none of the family members was present. “Only the caretakers were present,” senior inspector Uttam Bhajnawale of Chaturshrungi police said. “We wanted to question Khedkar and others in the bungalow regarding the case registered by Rabale police and particularly the SUV involved in the case. We also wanted to question the people who were with Manorama Khedkar on Sunday afternoon when she obstructed the policemen,” Bhajnawale added.The police team knocked on the door of the bungalow several times, but none of the workers opened it. Finally, a couple of police constables scaled the door and forced the workers to open it.Vilas Dhengre (53), who owns the cement mixer, told Rabale police that his driver, Chandkumar Chavan, informed him that the SUV grazed his vehicle at a traffic signal on Mulund-Airoli bridge. Following an argument, the SUV driver told the truck’s helper, Pralhad Kumar (22), to accompany him to the Rabale police station.Around 8.30 pm on Saturday, Chavan contacted Dhengre and informed him that Kumar was not answering his calls. Then Chavan and Dhengre met on the Sion-Panvel highway at Kharghar and began a search for Kumar, but in vain. Rabale police later traced the SUV to Pune and rescued Kumar with help from Chaturshrungi police.
