The Pune Police on Friday arrested the accused who allegedly raped a 26-year-old woman inside a stationary bus at Swargate bus station.
“Accused Dattatray Ramdas Gade has been formally arrested,” DCP Smarthana Patil, Zone 2, Pune City Police, told ANI.
Gade is named in half a dozen cases of theft, robbery, and chain-snatching in Pune and Ahilyanagar districts. He has been out on bail since 2019 for one of the offences.
On Thursday, the Pune Police had deployed drones and a dog squad in Shirur tehsil to nab Gade, who allegedly raped the woman inside a Shiv Shahi bus of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) at Swargate bus station in Pune two days ago.
At least 13 police teams were formed to nab Gade, a resident of Gunat village in Pune.
Pune City and Pune Rural Police also launched a search operation in Gunat village, including in sugarcane fields, with drones and dog squads, officials said. More than 100 cops reached the village, they said.
According to the survivor, she was waiting for a bus for Phaltan in Satara district at one of the platforms around 5.45 am on Tuesday, when Gade engaged her in conversation, calling her ‘didi’ (sister), and said the bus for Satara had arrived at another platform.
He took her to an empty ‘Shiv Shahi’ AC bus parked elsewhere on the premises. As the lights inside the bus were not on, she hesitated to get in but the man convinced her that it was the right vehicle. Gade then followed her and raped her, the woman, who works in the medical field, told police.
