The accused is named in half a dozen cases of theft, robbery and chain-snatching in Pune and Ahilyanagar district; he has been out on bail since 2019 in one of the offences
Pic/PTI
Pune Crime Branch has arrested the accused in the Pune rape case incident at the Swargate bus depot from a village in Shirur Tehsil of the Pune district.
Pune police have successfully arrested Dattatray Gade, the accused in the Swargate bus stand sexual assault case, on the night of February 28 after 70 hours of combing operation. After evading capture for two days, the accused was finally tracked down in a sugarcane field in Gunat village, Shirur Taluka with the help of local villagers.
#UPDATE | Pune (Maharashtra) bus rape case | The accused, Dattatray Ramdas Gade, who was detained by a team of the Pune Crime Branch from a village in Shirur Tehsil of Pune district, has now been formally arrested as per DCP Smartana Patil, Zone 2, Pune City Police
— ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2025
(Video - Pune… pic.twitter.com/CP41zGknSK
Police sources revealed that Gade had been hiding in the fields, starving and desperate. When he approached a relative’s house for water, the police received a tip-off and swiftly took him into custody. He was brought to Pune around 1:30 AM and placed in Lashkar police station custody.
During interrogation, a shocking revelation surfaced—before assaulting the victim, Gade had attempted to lure another woman into his trap. He gained her trust, but she managed to escape in time, thwarting his plan.
Further investigations are ongoing.
The woman was raped allegedly by history-sheeter Gade (37) early morning on Tuesday inside an ST bus.
The accused allegedly approached the woman, falsely claiming that the bus to her destination was parked elsewhere. He led her to a MSRTC Shivsahi bus parked in the depot, where he allegedly raped her.
Gade, is named in half a dozen cases of theft, robbery and chain-snatching in Pune and Ahilyanagar district. He has been out on bail since 2019 in one of the offences, reported PTI.
Thirteen police teams were deployed at various locations around the state to nab the Pune rape case accused.
Meanwhile, State Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik has ordered for an immediate security audit of all bus stands and depots across the state.
As per a release issued on Thursday, the minister has also instructed that all registered buses parked at bus stations and depots and vehicles seized by transport offices be removed by April 15.
Considering the rising number of female passengers, Minister Sarnaik emphasised the need to increase the number of female security guards at bus stations.
Additionally, he directed that a specific timeframe be set for removing unregistered buses from bus stand areas, with the process to be completed by April 15. He also called for the appointment of an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer to the vacant post of Chief Security and Vigilance Officer in the State Transport Corporation.
Leaders and workers of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP-SCP on Thursday staged a protest against the rape incident at the Swargate bus depot in Pune, calling for strict action against the Pune rape case accused.
The protesters demanded capital punishment for the rape accused and the safety of women.
Maharashtra's Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik also ordered a departmental inquiry against the Assistant Transport Superintendent and the Bus Depot Manager of the Swargate Bus Depot in Pune following the February 25 incident in which the 26-year-old woman was allegedly raped inside a parked bus.
(With inputs from PTI)
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