Pune: Yesterday, a change of shirts was not enough; the dog squad picked up the smell and rushed to locate the man accused of raping a woman inside a bus in Pune. The 75-hour-long hunt ended with the arrest of Dattatray Gade late last night.
Following the report, police teams amassed and mobilized drones in the search for Gade, with 13 police teams comprising more than 100 personnel in Pune district and beyond. Breakthrough: he came to his relative’s house at about 10:30 pm on Thursday.
As his relatives heard, they alerted the police upon learning of his arrival. Gade took a bottle of water when he was going out and reportedly confessed to his family, “I have done a big mistake and have to surrender.”
The police team found a changed shirt, which they then used to scent the dog’s squad for Gade; the dogs led police down his escape route. Gade camouflaged himself in a field of sugarcanes along a canal not far from his relatives’ house.
Ultimately, it was the villagers who found Gade in the canal. After they identified him, police swooped in and took him into custody after which he was brought directly to Pune, where the SIT of Swargate Police Station arrested him.
Serial Offender
Gade is a 37-year-old, hailing from Shirur in Pune district and has a long record of crimes. Six cases are registered against him in different police stations, including Shirur and Shikarpur in the Ahilyanagar district.
An alleged loan taken in his possession in 2019 for the purpose of purchasing a four-wheeler, he had thereafter used that vehicle as an informal taxi to ply on the Pune-Ahilyanagar route. During this time, he would pick older women, claiming to treat them well, and then rob them. Approximately 140 grams (12 tola) of stolen gold was recovered during his arrest at that time.
He has had his sentence in prison, generally averaging five to six months, for committing robbery in the Karde Ghat sector near Shirur in 2020. Multiple other cases were pending against him, including two in Shikarpur, one each in Supa, Kedgaon, and Kotwali police stations of Ahilyanagar district. However, despite all these cases and records, Gade has been out on bail since 2019.
Apart from being involved in all his criminal activities, Gade also had a fair share of politics. During the last assembly elections, he managed work from a prominent political leader and got quite a few photos clicked with this leader that ran viral on social media. Besides this, he contested for a seat in the Sangharsh-Mukti Samiti of Gunat village but lost the election.
The Crime
Gade hanged out at the Swargate bus depot from time to time, sometimes pretending to be a policeman. CCTV footage confirmed that on the day of the incident, he wore a formal shirt, pants, and shoes.
Police sources reveal that he introduced himself to the rape survivor as if he were a police officer and even named her differently at the time of speaking with her.
The 26-year-old victim in this case, a working woman in the medical field, was waiting at the Swargate bus stand early Tuesday morning for a bus to Phaltan. At about 5:45 AM, Gade approached her and comfortingly addressed her as “didi” (sister), making some lame excuse for saying that her bus had already departed from another platform.
She was then led to an empty Shiv Shahi AC bus with Gade convincing her that that was the right bus for her. As she was about to enter the darkened bus, it is claimed that Gade reassured her and entered the bus behind her, committing the crime onboard.
Aftermath
This incident caused uproar all over Maharashtra. Gade would face the strongest punishment, said Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday, even capital punishment. Shiv Sena MLA Nilesh Rane also suggested that “encounter squads” be revived to deal with such repeat offenders. Earlier, Pune police had declared a reward of Rs 1 lakh for any information leading to Gade’s arrest.
The case has rekindled discussions regarding rape laws in India. Former Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud had even drawn parallels with the “Nirbhaya” case in Delhi-the brutal gang-rape and murder of one woman inside the bus in Delhi in 2012-triggering countrywide protests.
“Several changes were made to the laws following the ‘Nirbhaya’ incident. However, we cannot prevent such incidents with laws alone,” said the former chief justice yesterday.
Minister of Transport in Maharashtra Pratap Sarnaik ordered a security audit across all bus depots in the state. He also gave directions for the immediate removal of all unauthorized buses and vehicles from all depots by the transport authorities before April 15.
Mr Sarnaik said that considering the increase in the number of women passengers, more female security guards should be deployed at bus stands. He said that an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer should be appointed to the vacant post of Chief Security and Vigilance Officer of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC).
As a result of the public anger, Mr Sarnaik also initiated a departmental inquiry against the Assistant Transport Superintendent and the Bus Depot Manager from Swargate, holding them accountable for security lapses that allowed this incident to happen.
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