Dattatray Gade has been arrested in Pune.
NEW DELHI: Pune Crime Branch on Friday arrested an accused in the Swargate bus depot rape case from a village in Shirur Tehsil of Pune district.
Dattatray Gade was taken into custody around midnight from Pune’s Shirur tehsil after been absconding since the incident took place on Tuesday. The victim was reportedly waiting for a bus to return home from work to Phaltan, which is located around 100 km away.
The accused, who has previous criminal records, had allegedly approached her, 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.
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The accused has a criminal record with six cases involving theft, robbery and chain-snatching in Pune and Ahilyanagar district. He had been released on bail in 2019 for one of these offences.
To nab the suspect, authorities deployed thirteen police teams across various locations in the state and had announced a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh for any information on the accused.
On Thursday, the search operation in Shirur Tehsil involved the use of sniffer dogs and drones to scan through sugarcane fields.
In wake of the incident, state transport minister Pratap Sarnaik ordered a departmental inquiry against the assistant traffic superintendent and the Swargate depot manager. Sarnaik also convened a high-level meeting on Thursday at Mantralaya with the officers from the department and state-run MSRTC to review the security at the bus depots and take measures to improve it.
Also read: Drones, dog squad, 100 cops: How police tracked down Pune bus rape accused hiding in sugarcane field
The minister chaired the meeting after 23 security guards from Swargate depot were suspended and replaced by new guards following Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s directives.
Earlier, deputy chief minister and Pune district guardian minister Ajit Pawar directed the Pune police commissioner to personally oversee the case and arrest the accused immediately.
“The incident or rape of our sister at Pune’s Swargate bus stand is extremely shameful, painful and infuriating for every member of a civilised society. The crime committed by the accused is unforgivable, and there can be no punishment except the death penalty. CM Devendra Fadnavis has also taken a serious note of the incident and has given the necessary instructions to the police,” he said.
