The Pune Crime Branch has detained Dattatray Ramdas Gade, the prime accused in the rape of a 26-year-old woman inside a bus at Swargate bus station. The accused was apprehended in a village in Shirur Tehsil, Pune district, around midnight on Friday, Pune City Police confirmed.
Accused had multiple criminal cases against him
Gade (37), a history-sheeter, is accused of raping the woman inside a State Transport (ST) bus early Tuesday morning. He has a criminal record with at least six cases of theft, robbery, and chain-snatching registered against him in Pune and Ahilyanagar districts.
The accused was out on bail since 2019 in connection with one of these cases, police said.
Massive manhunt led to arrest
To track down the accused, thirteen police teams were deployed across multiple locations in Maharashtra.
On Thursday, Pune Police conducted an extensive search operation in Shirur Tehsil, using sniffer dogs and drones to scan through dense sugarcane fields, where Gade was suspected to be hiding.
The arrest comes amid growing concerns over women’s safety in Pune, prompting authorities to tighten security measures at transport hubs across the city.