The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to Dilip Khedkar, father of former IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, who is accused of abducting a truck cleaner following a road rage incident in Navi Mumbai last month.
A single-judge bench of Justice N R Borkar granted the pre-arrest bail with conditions. Khedkar has been directed to pay Rs 4 lakh as compensation to the alleged victim, truck cleaner Prahlad Kumar, within six weeks. He must also deposit Rs 1 lakh to the police welfare fund.
The incident took place on September 13 on the Mulund–Airoli Road. According to the FIR, a cement-mixer truck grazed an SUV owned by Khedkar. This led to an altercation between Khedkar, his driver-cum-bodyguard Praful Salunkhe, truck driver Chandrakumar Chavan, and cleaner Prahlad Kumar.
Police said Khedkar and Salunkhe forced Kumar into their vehicle, claiming they were taking him to the police station. When Kumar failed to respond to repeated calls, truck owner Vilas Dherange lodged a police complaint.
Kumar was allegedly detained overnight at Khedkar’s bungalow in Pune and was rescued by police the next day. Salunkhe was arrested soon after and remains in judicial custody. Khedkar had been absconding since the incident and approached the High Court after the Navi Mumbai sessions court rejected his anticipatory bail plea.
In his plea before the High Court, Khedkar denied the allegations, claiming it was mutually agreed that Kumar would accompany him until the damage to his vehicle was assessed by a mechanic. He said the truck driver himself suggested that Kumar travel with him, and since it was late, he took Kumar to his bungalow, where he allegedly left the next morning.
The sessions court had earlier refused bail, noting that Khedkar could have taken police assistance instead of forcibly taking Kumar and detaining him at his bungalow.
Khedkar’s wife Manorama was also named as an accused for allegedly obstructing the police during Kumar’s rescue. She has already been granted pre-arrest bail by the sessions court.
The Rabale police registered a case under Section 137(2) (kidnapping) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against the accused.
