Pune, July 20 (IANS): A Pune court on Saturday extended the police custody of Manorama Khedkar – mother of controversial IAS Probationary Officer Puja Khedkar – by two days.

Arrested from Mahad in Raigad, Manorama Khedkar was remanded to two-day police custody by the Paud Judicial Magistrate First Class Court on Thursday, which has now been extended by another two days till Monday.

Seeking an extension of her remand, the police informed the court about the progress in the investigation, saying that they needed to identify two other women involved in the matter.

Besides, the police need to probe the involvement of a person named Sandeep Khedkar and another unknown person in the case pertaining to Manorama Khedkar brandishing a pistol and threatening some farmers in the Mulshi region, allegedly to grab their land.

Countering the police, Manorama Khedkar’s lawyer Vijay Jagtap argued that the section pertaining to attempt to murder (Section 307) was not applicable in her case as no bullet was fired, and hence she was entitled to bail.

Besides, all other charges against his client were bailable offences, and her husband Dilip K. Khedkar has also been given interim pre-arrest bail, Jagtap said.

After listening to both sides, the court extended Manorama Khedkar’s police remand by two more days.

In the past couple of days, the police have recovered the pistol she had allegedly used to threaten the farmers, and seized a car belonging to her.

Manorama Khedkar was booked after a July 2023 video surfaced on social media last week, showing her threatening some farmers

Amid a furore, Manorama Khedkar went ‘missing’ as also did her husband Dilip Khedkar, an ex-Maharashtra government official. She was traced to a nondescript lodge in Mahad from where she was arrested on Thursday.

Dilip Khedkar, who is still untraceable, has been granted an interim pre-arrest bail till July 25.

Meanwhile, their daughter Puja Khedkar, who was expected to come from Washim to the Pune Police Commissionerate to record her statement on the harassment charges she has levelled against the Pune Collector, did not turn up despite being served two summonses, officials said.

On Friday, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) lodged an FIR against her with the Delhi Police for fraud, besides serving her a show-cause notice seeking to know why her candidature for the Civil Services Exam-2022 should not be cancelled.