Predator-Caught!-

Pune bus rape case accused arrested after dramatic manhunt

 

The dog squad's relentless pursuit, which focused on the scent and led the police to the suspect in the horrific bus rape case in Pune, Maharasthtra, was not abated by a change of clothes. Following a dramatic 75-hour chase, the search for the accused, named Dattatray Gade, ended with his arrest late last night.

 

How Gade Fell into Own Trap

 

With drones buzzing overhead and 13 police units—more than 100 officers—combing the Pune district and beyond, the noose was closing in. But it was a fatal blunder that made Gade's capture inevitable. Having gone to a relative's residence at 10:30 pm on Thursday, he had unwittingly entered a trap. His family members, not wanting to protect a wanted man, gave away the position of the suspect to the police, ending the manhunt dramatically.

 

The Clue That Led to His Capture

 

The police team stumbled upon a discarded shirt, a crucial clue that made the dog unit detect Dattatray Gade's odor and track his route of escape. They followed him into a sugarcane field bordering a canal near his family members' house, where he had been staying in hiding.

Eventually, it was the villagers who saw him in the canal. Identified, the police swooped down, apprehending him. He was taken to Pune immediately, where the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Swargate Police Station arrested him officially.
Meanwhile, Pune Police have put out a poster of the accused and are offering a Rs 1 lakh reward for any information that can lead to his arrest.

 

A Crime That Shocked Pune

 

As per news reports in PTI, disguising himself as a good Samaritan, the man went up to the 26-year-old woman at the Swargate bus stand, calling her didi (sister) and initiating a conversation.

He said that the Satara bus had come to a different platform and took her towards an empty bus, which was parked elsewhere on the station grounds.

Reluctant to enter the darkened vehicle, she was assured by the man that it was, in fact, the correct bus. But once on board, he entered behind her, overpowered her, and raped her before running away. The bus owned by the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) remained stationary as the crime unfolded in the darkness.

 

A Serial Offender with a Dark History

 

The 37-year-old Gade has a history of crime that stretches as far as his eyes can see, with six cases booked against him at various police stations in the Ahilyanagar district.

Extortion, theft, and a robbery figure on his criminal record. In 2019, he had availed himself of a loan to buy a four-wheeler, which he operated as an auto-rickshaw-like taxi on the Pune-Ahilyanagar route. Disguising himself as a benevolent driver, he targeted old women, tricking them into his car with promises of a ride. He would then drive them to a secluded area, threaten them with a knife, steal their jewellery, and abandon them. His arrest in that year resulted in the recovery of about 140 grams (12 tola) of pilfered gold.

Gade's criminal life went on even after his arrest. In 2020, he was sentenced to robbery in Karde Ghat near Shirur and spent five or six months in prison. But after his release, there were some pending cases against him, among which two were in Shikarpur and one each in the Supa, Kedgaon, and Kotwali police stations of the Ahilyanagar district. But since 2019, he has been free on bail.

Apart from his criminal life, Gade also experimented with politics. He had worked for a well-known political leader in the recent assembly polls, and his pictures with the leader were going viral on social media. He even fought for a seat in Gunat village's Sangharsh-Mukti Samiti but was unsuccessful.