Has Sacked IAS Probationer Puja Khedkar Fled India For Dubai? Here's The Truth

Sacked IAS trainee Puja Khedkar is still in India and has not fled abroad, sources informed. Earlier, reports claimed that she had fled to Dubai fearing arrest. According to sources, no immigration record was found regarding Kedkar’s travel.

The authorities are hunting for Khedkar as the sacked IAS trainee went missing fearing arrest. Reportedly, she also switched off her phone.

The speculations emerged after Delhi’s Patiala House Court on Thursday denied anticipatory bail to Khedkar, stating that allegations levelled against her are serious and “require a thorough investigation”.

“Custodial interrogation of the accused is required to unearth the whole conspiracy and to establish involvement of the other persons involved in conspiracy,” Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala said.

Khedkar, who has not been arrested in the case, had approached the court through her lawyer, saying she faces “immediate threat of arrest”.

In response to Khedkar’s claim she was falsely implicated in the case and was a victim of media trial and witch-hunt, the judge said the argument was not tenable because there were sufficient incriminating material on record. “Therefore, reporting of the incriminating material which is on record could not be considered as ‘media trial’ or ‘witch hunt,” the judge said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the UPSC cancelled the provisional candidature of Khedkar and debarred her from taking future exams.

A Show Cause Notice (SCN) was issued by the UPSC to Khedkar, a provisionally recommended candidate of the Civil Services Examination-2022 (CSE-2022) on July 18 for fraudulently availing attempts beyond the permissible limit provided for in the Examination Rules by faking her identity.

She was asked submit her response to the SCN by July 25. However, she requested for further time till August 4 so that she could gather the necessary documents for her response but she was given until July 30 to submit the documents, which she failed to do.

Khedkar, a 2023-batch IAS officer, is accused of posing as an OBC non-creamy layer candidate in her Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) candidature. She also claimed that she was visually and mentally disabled, but refused to take tests to corroborate her claims. The UPSC had lodged a criminal case against her, alleging that she had manipulated her identity, including her parents’ names, to secure a place in the civil service.

The Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie had issued eight memos to Khedkar for misconduct during her training. These accumulating charges against her intensified the pressure for her arrest.

She came under the spotlight after reports about her alleged demands for a separate office and official car and unauthorised use of a beacon on her private car during her posting in Pune emerged. She was subsequently transferred to Washim from Pune.