PUNE, Sept. 16 -- Bullets, assault, forgery and now alleged kidnapping - the Khedkars' growing notoriety has become their calling card. Seemingly immune to the law and armed with deep political connections, the Pune-based family is making headlines again. On Sunday, Manorama Khedkar, 58, mother of former probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, was charged with obstructing a police team, which had arrived at their Baner bungalow in Pune, to search the premises. The police turned up after an SUV linked to the Khedkars collided with a cement mixer on the Mulund-Airoli road in Navi Mumbai on Saturday evening. The SUV driver and his associate allegedly took away the helper of the cement mixer, on the pretext of escorting him to the police station. Instead, they took him to the Khedkars' bungalow in Baner, where he was confined. When a Navi Mumbai police team arrived at the Khedkars' residence, Manorama refused to open the gates. "We showed her our identity cards and the FIR from the Rabale police station, but she declined to cooperate. Instead, she read the FIR and forwarded it to her lawyer," said an officer involved in the investigation. Two hours later, the SUV was no longer on the premises, leading police to accuse Manorama of tampering with evidence. Officers also alleged that she unleashed her dogs to obstruct them. A case has since been registered for obstructing the police from discharging their duty. Notices were also pasted on the bungalow for the two accused, but the Khedkars' driver and his associate remain absconding. For a family whose clout comes from intimidation, this episode is, disturbingly, a feather in their cap. Between Manorama, her husband Dilip, and their daughter Puja, at least four separate complaints have been filed in Pune, Ahilyanagar, Delhi and now Navi Mumbai. In July 2024, Manorama and Dilip were booked along with five others by the Paud police in Pune for allegedly threatening a farmer and his family at gunpoint to settle a land dispute. Subsequently arrested, Manorama was charged with rioting, assault and criminal intimidation, along with sections of the Arms Act. Dilip and the others were also named in the FIR. Dilip Khedkar, a retired officer of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), was named in a separate case in 2022 by the Pathardi police in Ahilyanagar, under legal provisions that deal with assault and the use of criminal force against a woman with intent to outrage her modesty. While the case never reached court, it was disclosed in his election affidavit when he contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Ahilyanagar on a Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi ticket. Dilip lost the election to NCP (SP) candidate Nilesh Lanke. Manorama and Dilip's daughter Puja Khedkar made national headlines last year, when she was dismissed from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) for wrongfully claiming OBC and disability benefits. The Union Public Service Commission, which also found her guilty of faking her identity to take the exam multiple times, barred her from taking the exam for life. The Khedkar family's rapid rise is drawing increased scrutiny. Dilip Khedkar, who started life as a sugarcane cutter in Bhalgaon Kasalwadi in Ahilyanagar district, moved with his family to Pune around 15 years ago. Over the years, they acquired several bungalows and plots in Pune. Both Manorama and Dilip nursed political ambitions, with Manorama elected as sarpanch of Bhalgaon in 2019, and Dilip entering active politics through the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. Dilip Khedkar's brother Manik was until recently the head of the Bharatiya Janata Party's unit in Pathardi tehsil. Their uncle Vitthal Khedkar too served as village sarpanch and was twice elected member of the zila parishad from the Congress. The family's political connections extend to Puja's maternal grandfather, IAS officer Jagannath Balwant, who served in Pune twice and pioneered the 'Majha Gaon, Majhi Shala' programme to boost rural education in Ahilyanagar. RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar, who had followed up Puja's alleged misuse of disability certificates in 2024, said, "The issues involving the Khedkar family are just the tip of the iceberg. They believe no one will touch them, which is why they keep getting involved in controversies." The Khedkars' recurring controversies have ensured they remain in the spotlight. Hindustan Times attempted to reach Manorama Khedkar, but she did not respond to phone calls. The mobile phones of Dilip and Puja Khedkar were switched off. Messages sent to all three also went unanswered....