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Journalism of Courage
The Pune police Friday arrested the man suspected of raping a woman inside a state-run bus stationed at a bus depot in the city, from the state’s Shirur following an intensive search operation involving multiple police stations after nearly 72 hours of the crime.
The suspect, identified as Dattatraya Ramdas Gade, 37, a resident of Gunat village in Shirur, had been on the run since Tuesday, when the alleged attack took place in the Swargate depot, one of Pune’s busiest.
The police said the attack occurred at around 5.30 am Tuesday, when the victim, who had been waiting to board a bus to her hometown in Satara, was approached by Gade. He allegedly lured the woman to an empty, air-conditioned Shivshahi bus, part of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation fleet, and assaulted her. The bus’s windows were sealed shut, preventing any immediate outside help.
In a joint operation, teams from the Pune city and Pune Rural police scoured the area around Gunat village, searching nearby sugarcane fields and deploying drones and a dog squad to track the suspect. Gade was eventually arrested in the early hours of Friday.
Gade is no stranger to the law, the police said. He has a history of criminal activity, with six previous cases against him, including charges of robbery and mobile phone theft in Pune and Ahmednagar. In 2020, authorities took preventive measures against him under Section 110 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which deals with habitual offenders.
Gade is currently in police custody and is expected to face multiple charges related to the assault. The police said additional details are expected to emerge soon.
