Subhechcha Ganguly 
The Pune Police had announced a reward of ₹1 lakh for any information leading to the arrest of Dattatray Gade, the accused in the bus rape case. On Friday, they apprehended Gade, a 37-year-old history-sheeter, for allegedly raping a 26-year-old woman inside a stationary bus at the Swargate bus station. Gade was initially detained by the Pune Crime Branch team in a village in Shirur Tehsil, Pune district. He was later formally arrested, as confirmed by DCP Smarthana Patil, Zone 2, Pune City Police, in a statement to ANI.
On Thursday, the Pune Police had set up 13 teams to capture Gade, who is also implicated in multiple theft, robbery, and chain-snatching cases in Pune and Ahilyanagar districts. He had been out on bail since 2019 in one of these cases.
Pune Police commissioner Amitesh Kumar had told PTI that an award of ₹1 lakh was announced for providing details about the accused.Pune City and Pune Rural Police also launched a search operation in Gunat village, including in sugarcane fields, with drones and dog squads, officials said. More than 100 cops reached the village.“Given the dense sugarcane fields in the area, drones are being used for aerial surveillance, and a dog squad has been deployed to assist in the search,” a police official told HT.
The woman, who works as a counsellor at a Pune hospital, was waiting for a bus for her hometown Phaltan in Satara district at one of the platforms around 5:45 pm on Tuesday. Gade, posing as a conductor, engaged her in a conversation. Calling her ‘didi’ (sister), he told the survivor that the bus for Satara had arrived at another platform.
The accused is said to have lured her into an empty ‘Shiv Shahi’ AC bus parked at a different location on the premises. Although the lights inside the bus were off, making her hesitant to enter, the man persuaded her that it was the correct vehicle.
