Pune bus rape: How police established accused’s identity

Speaking about the initial phase of the probe, a senior officer said, “We mobilised multiple teams considering the gravity of the probe and considering that around three hours had already gone by. First of the clues came from multiple CCTV footage. From their examination, we obtained some photos of the suspect and circulated them among the investigation team including the members of the Detection Branches of police stations. One of the constabulary staff members said that the photo matched that of a history sheeter Dattatray Gade, accused in a past case of theft. Photo of Gade available on police records was shown to the victim and she said it matched the face of the accused.”

The officer added, “While we were not fully certain of the identity at this stage, we zeroed in on Gade. His past movements were tracked, and a team reached his home in Shirur. More clues obtained from these interviews coupled with technical leads, we ascertained that it was Gade who had assaulted the victim. Because his criminal record was with us and so we had his image, the accused could be identified immediately. All the teams then started working on tracing Gade. We checked all his known locations, possible locations of his relatives, friends and other places he could be hiding.”

Minister of State for Home Yogesh Kadam said during a media briefing in Pune, “Once the accused was identified, it was revealed that on the previous four-five days he had been to multiple bus stands. He was moving at these places in a well dressed attire with neatly tucked in shirt etc. Possibly this was part of his modus operandi. Once the accused is arrested we will have more details. We hope to arrest him very soon.” Kadam added, “We then tracked his movements with the help of CCTV footage which show he has gone to a certain location. He has travelled by bus and that too we have tracked.”

The incident took place sometime around 5.30 am on Tuesday, when the victim was waiting at the bus depot to catch a bus to her hometown in neighbouring Satara district. Probe revealed the accused was loitering in the bus depot, approached her and asked “Tai, kuthe challis tu? (Sister, where are you going?)” After she told him where she was headed, he told her that another Shivshahi would leave early. She, however, countered by saying that buses to Satara usually start where she was waiting, but he explained that the bus was delayed. He then took her to another bus, which was dark inside. He told the victim that passengers might be sleeping and insisted she get on. Once inside, he closed the door and allegedly raped her, police said.

After the incident, the accused fled the scene. The woman subsequently got down from the bus and later boarded another bus for her hometown. She had reached Hadapsar when she spoke with a male friend on the phone. He insisted that she approach the police. She then came to the Swargate police station around 9 am and we registered an FIR immediately.