Pune: Dattatraya Ramdas Gade, the man accused of allegedly raping a 26-year-old woman inside a bus at Pune’s Swargate bus station, has been arrested on Friday. Gade was arrested from the Shirur Tehsil after nearly 75 hours of a manhunt. Sniffer dogs and drones were also deployed as a part of the search operation.
The woman was raped on Tuesday morning, 100 metres from a police station and in a bus at the Pune’s Swargate Bus Stand — one of the largest bus depots of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC). The incident took place between 5.45 am and 6 am when the victim was waiting to board a bus to her hometown in the Satara district.
Gold Rate
Friday 28 Feb. 2025
According to the survivor, the accused initially engaged her in a conversation, calling her ‘didi’ (sister). He told her that the bus for Satara had arrived at another platform and then took her to an empty bus (Shiv Shahi AC bus) parked on the premises. As the lights inside the bus were not switched on, she hesitated to get in, but the man convinced her that it was the right vehicle, the victim who works in the medical field said.
As she boarded the bus, Gade followed her and raped her. Gade had been on the run since then.
Reports said that the accused had posed as a policeman for several months. The 37-year-old accused, a resident of Gunat village in Pune, is also named in half a dozen cases of theft, robbery, and chain snatching in the Pune and Ahilyanagar districts. He has been out on bail since 2019 in one of the offences.
How the accused was arrested
A total of 13 police teams were deployed at various locations around Maharashtra to arrest the accused. Sniffer dogs and drones were also deployed as a part of the search operation. Pune City and Pune Rural Police had launched a search operation in Gunat village, including in sugarcane fields.
The Pune police had earlier issued a monetary reward of Rs 1 lakh for those who provide information on the accused’s whereabouts. Another police official said the information could be shared at 020-24442769 or 9881670659, assuring that the informer’s identity would be kept secret.
The accused Dattatray Ramdas Gade was absconding since the incident happened on Tuesday, when the rape survivor, a working woman, was waiting for a bus to return home to Phaltan, which is located around 100 km away.
Meanwhile, State Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik has ordered 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.
Maharashtra’s Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik also initiated 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.
