police capture alleged bus rapist following massive manhunt, suspect held for purportedly assaulting woman at Swargate depot.
The Pune Crime Branch has detained Dattatray Ramdas Gade, the accused in the bus rape case, for allegedly raping a woman inside a bus at the Swargate bus depot, police said on Friday. Dattatray Gade was detained and later arrested around midnight from a village in Shirur Tehsil of the Pune district after over 70-hour-long manhunt.
The history-sheeter allegedly raped the 26-year-old woman early morning on Tuesday inside a state bus parked at the Swargate terminus. The Pune bus rape case has sparked outrage, prompting authorities to intensify their search before successfully apprehending the suspect.
Gade has been out on bail since 2019 and is an accused in a number of crimes, including half a dozen cases of theft, robbery and chain snatchings in Pune and Ahilyanagar district. The incident has sparked a massive outrage since it came to light. Petty criminal Dattatray Gade, 37, who was out on bail since 2019, was arrested in the Pune bus rape caset. He allegedly raped a 26-year-old woman inside a bus in one of the largest depots of the State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) at Swargate. The incident happened when the victim, who works as a counsellor at a hospital in Pune, was waiting for a bus to return home to Phaltan in Satara district early Tuesday morning.The accused posed as a bus conductor, called the victim “didi”, and asked her where she was going. On learning she was travelling to Phaltan, he falsely told her the bus to her destination was parked elsewhere and offered her help. He led her to an MSRTC luxury bus, closed the door, and allegedly sexually assaulted herhe survivor hesitated to board the bus as the lights were off, but Gade convinced her it was the right vehicle. He then followed her inside and allegedly raped her..Police had deployed 13 teams at various locations around Maharashtra to locate the accused. They also deployed sniffer dogs and drones as part of the search operation within the tracts of sugarcane fields located in Shirur Tehsil in Pune district on Thursday
Officials said at least 100 members of Pune City and Pune Rural Police had further initiated a search operation in Gunat village, including in sugarcane fields with drones and dog squads to locate the fugitive, officials saidPune Zone II deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Smartana Patil said that the accused wore a mask when he attacked. “The problem is that the accused had a mask on when the incident happened, and his face wasn’t easily recognisable. But our team worked hard to recognise the accused, and we have other pieces of evidence against him,” the official was quoted by ANI.. The police on Thursday also announced a reward of ₹1 lakh for information about Gade, Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar said, per PTI.The incident sparked outrage from the opposition, with Congress hitting out at the BJP-led Mahayuti government. “This incident is shameful for Maharashtra. Law and order have been shattered in Maharashtra. Such incidents are increasing everywhere… There is no law and order left in Maharashtra. People have lost faith in the police department and the home department… The Chief Minister should pay attention to this, this is our demand from him,” Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar told ANI.
