Dilip Khedkar appears before police in road rage-kidnapping case

Thane, Nov 29 (PTI) Dilip Khedkar, former probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar's father, on Saturday appeared at Rabale police station in Navi Mumbai for questioning in a road rage and kidnapping case.
     The Bombay High Court had granted Khedkar anticipatory bail in the case last month while asking him to cooperate with the investigation.
     He arrived at the police station in the morning and remained present throughout the day, a police official said.
    Speaking to the media after the questioning, Khedkar denied the allegations against him. "I have not committed any kidnapping. The (victim) truck cleaner had voluntarily accompanied me to Pune. After reaching Pune, I even connected him with his truck owner over the phone," he said.

    Police officials said that although the High Court had directed Khedkar to present himself for inquiry within six weeks, he did not appear during that period, and turned up only after Rabale Police issued a notice summoning him.
    Khedkar, however, disputed this, saying the court's order was only to cooperate with the police whenever called.
    As per the FIR, a cement-mixer truck grazed an SUV owned by Dilip Khedkar on Mulund-Airoli road, following which he and his driver-cum-bodyguard, Praful Salunkhe, had an altercation with truck driver Chandrakumar Chavan and cleaner or helper Prahlad Kumar.
    Khedkar and his driver allegedly forced Kumar to accompany them to Pune. Later, the police rescued Kumar from Khedkar's Pune bungalow even though his wife Manorama Khedkar allegedly tried to obstruct the police team's entry.
    Dilip Khedkar denied the charges, claiming that it had been mutually agreed that Kumar will go with them till the damage to the SUV was assessed by a mechanic. His driver, Salunkhe, was arrested in the case.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)