A change of shirts was enough for the dog squad to pick up the smell and zero in on the location of the man accused of raping a woman inside a bus in Pune on Tuesday. The search for Dattatray Gade, the accused in the rape of the 26-year-old woman, ended in his arrest after a 75-hour chase late last night.
The police had launched a massive search for Gade, deploying drones and 13 police teams comprising over 100 personnel across Pune district and beyond. A breakthrough came when he arrived at the house of a relative at 10:30 pm on Thursday. His relatives, upon learning of his arrival, alerted the police.
Before leaving, Gade took a bottle of water and reportedly admitted to his family, “I have made a big mistake, and I have to surrender.”
The police team discovered a changed shirt, which they used to provide the dog squad with Gade’s scent. The dogs led the police along his escape route. Gade hid in a sugarcane field near a canal close to his relatives’ house.
Ultimately, it was the villagers who found Gade in the canal. Once they identified him, police swiftly took him into custody. From there, he was transported directly to Pune, where the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Swargate Police Station formally arrested him.
A Serial Offender
Gade, a 37-year-old man from Pune district’s Shirur, has a long history of criminal activities. There are six registered cases against him across different police stations, including Shirur and Shikarpur in the Ahilyanagar district.
His criminal history dates back to at least 2019 when he took a loan to buy a four-wheeler, which he used to operate as an informal taxi on the Pune-Ahilyanagar route. During this period, he lured elderly women into his car, feigning kindness before robbing them. His arrest at that time led to the recovery of approximately 140 grams (12 tola) of stolen gold.
In 2020, he was convicted of robbery in Karde Ghat near Shirur, serving a jail sentence of five to six months. However, he was released, and multiple other cases against him remained pending. These include two cases in Shikarpur, and one each in Supa, Kedgaon, and Kotwali police stations of Ahilyanagar district. Despite these records, Gade has remained out on bail since 2019.
Beyond his criminal activities, Gade was also politically active. He worked for a prominent political leader during the recent assembly elections, and several photos of him with this leader circulated on social media. Additionally, he ran for a seat in the Sangharsh-Mukti Samiti of Gunat village but was unsuccessful.
The Crime
Gade frequently loitered around the Swargate bus depot, often presenting himself as a police officer. CCTV footage confirmed that he was wearing a formal shirt, pants, and shoes on the day of the crime.
According to police sources, he even introduced himself as a police officer while speaking to the rape survivor, giving her a false name during their conversation.
The 26-year-old victim, a working woman in the medical field, was waiting for a bus to Phaltan in Satara district at Swargate bus station around 5:45 am on Tuesday. Gade approached her, addressing her as “didi” (sister) and falsely claiming that her bus was parked at a different platform.
He then led her to an empty Shiv Shahi AC bus, convincing her that it was the right one. As she hesitated to board the darkened vehicle, he reassured her, only to follow her inside and commit the crime.
The Aftermath
The incident sparked widespread outrage across Maharashtra. On Thursday, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that the government would push for the maximum possible punishment for Gade, including capital punishment. Shiv Sena MLA Nilesh Rane even suggested reviving police “encounter squads” to deal with repeat offenders. The Pune police had earlier announced a Rs 1 lakh reward for any information leading to Gade’s arrest.
The case has also sparked a debate on rape laws in India. Former Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud even cited the “Nirbhaya” case in Delhi – the brutal gang-rape and murder of a woman inside a bus in Delhi in 2012 that led to nationwide protests.
“A lot of changes were made in the laws following the ‘Nirbhaya’ incident, however, we can not prevent such incident by only having laws,” the former chief justice said yesterday.
Maharashtra’s Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik ordered a security audit of all bus depots across the state. He also directed that all unauthorised buses and vehicles seized by transport authorities be removed from depots by April 15.
Mr Sarnaik called for the deployment of more female security guards at bus stands, citing the increasing number of women passengers. Additionally, he proposed the appointment of an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer to the vacant post of Chief Security and Vigilance Officer for the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC).
In response to public anger, Mr Sarnaik also launched a departmental inquiry against the Assistant Transport Superintendent and the Bus Depot Manager at Swargate, holding them accountable for security lapses that enabled such an incident to occur.
