More people may be involved in the fraud of former trainee IAS Pooja Khedkar. Delhi Police Crime Branch has opposed Pooja Khedkar’s interim bail plea in Delhi High Court. Opposing the grant of interim bail to Khedkar, it said that if she is released, she can obstruct these processes by giving misleading information or pressurizing these institutions to change records or testimony. In its status report, exclusively accessed by India Today, Delhi Police Crime Branch has told Delhi High Court that investigation has revealed that former IAS trainee Pooja Khedkar was not entitled to get benefits as an OBC + non-creamy layer candidate. Apart from this, a conspiracy was hatched to show Khedkar as a person belonging to OBC non-creamy layer.
To get the IAS job, Pooja Khedkar had given many such information to UPSC, which has been found to be wrong. These include the divorce of her parents, living with her mother, and both the parents living separately. These revelations have been made after scrutinizing the information given by her at the time of joining as Assistant Director in Sports Authority of India (SAI).
Fake divorce of parents?
According to the status report, Pooja Khedkar, in collusion with known and unknown persons, hatched a well-planned conspiracy to take advantage as an OBC+non-creamy layer candidate by showing her parents legally separated through a divorce decree. However, according to the Delhi Police, during the investigation, it also came to light that Pooja Khedkar’s parents were living together.
Call details revealed the truth
The status report states that the CDR (Analysis of Call Detail Records) analysis of Khedkar and her family members shows that they are in constant touch with each other. The CDR also shows that the location of both the parents of the petitioner remains the same most of the time. Her application for SAI states that she lives with both her parents. This is contrary to the claim made by her before the UPSC that they are divorced.
Many false claims made in the application for UPSC
The Delhi Police, in its status report, has stated that Khedkar joined the Sports Authority of India (SAI) as Assistant Director in the year 2022. In her application form for SAI, she stated that she lives with both her parents in Pune, a declaration again contrary to her claim made before the UPSC that her parents are divorced, and she lives separately with her mother.
There is no information about the divorce in the father’s department either.
Khedkar’s father also did not give any information about his divorce to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board where he worked. According to the status report, his father retired from the post of Director from the Maharashtra Control Board in the year 2020. According to information received from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, he never gave any information about his divorce to his department.
‘More people are involved in the fraud…’
The Delhi Police Crime Branch says that from the investigation done so far, it seems that many more people are involved in this fraud. It is argued that Khedkar may join hands with them to create a fake story, cover her tracks or manipulate the remaining evidence. This may significantly hamper the investigation in bringing out the full extent of the fraud.
Why Pooja Khedkar should not get bail, Delhi Police gave these arguments-
There are serious allegations of fraud and forgery against Khedkar. The case talks about misuse of reserved categories in civil services. This case has a huge impact on public trust. It directly affects the fairness and integrity of the entire examination and selection process. A lot of evidence has been found, such as emails, text messages, physical records that have not yet been submitted to the authorities, or even personal records.
The Delhi Police Crime Branch says that if protection is provided in the initial stages of the investigation, Khedkar may change or withdraw it. This is also more likely to happen because she has an alleged history of manipulating information. The investigation involves continuous inquiries, such as confirming the authenticity of disability certificates, or cross-checking her claims with other institutions such as educational or medical institutions. Khedkar may obstruct the investigation by pressurizing the concerned institutions. Khedkar may alter records and testimony.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)