Dattatraya Ramdas Gade, a history sheeter out on bail since 2019, allegedly raped a 26-year-old woman inside a stationary state transport bus at the busy Swargate bus station in Pune city on Tuesday morning.
The shocking incident triggered a protest by the opposition Shiv Sena (UBT), during which the security office on the premises was vandalised.
While Nationalist Congress Party (SP) leader and Baramati Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti government, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said he has directed the Pune police commissioner to investigate the case and swiftly arrest the accused.
Who is accused Dattatraya Ramdas Gade?
- Dattatraya Ramdas Gade, 36, has half a dozen cases of theft, robbery and chain-snatching registered against him in Pune and adjoining Ahilyanagar district, said news agency PTI quoted a Swargate police station official as saying.
- Gade was out on bail since 2019 in one of the offences, the police official said.
- In 2024, a theft case was lodged in Pune against Gade who was summoned to the police station, the official said.
- A Pune police team on Wednesday questioned a brother of the accused . Police are examining CCTV camera footage of the Swargate bus station and nearby areas, and seeking technical assistance for clues and to track down the accused, police said.
What happened at Swargate bus station?
In her police complaint, the woman said as she was waiting for a bus for Phaltan in the adjoining Satara district at one of the platforms at around 5.45am, a man approached and engaged her in conversation, calling her `didi’ (sister), and said the bus for Satara had arrived at another platform.
The man took her to an empty ‘Shiv Shahi’ AC bus parked elsewhere on the sprawling station premises.
The woman, who works in the private medical field, told the police that as the lights inside the bus were not on, she hesitated to get in at first, but the man convinced her that it was the right vehicle. He then followed her inside and raped her before fleeing.
The accused also threatened the woman and asked her not to reveal the crime to anyone, the police said.
What police said
Deputy commissioner of police Smartana Patil told reporters that CCTV camera footage showed the woman walking towards the bus with the accused.
There were many people and several buses on the station premises when the incident took place, the DCP said.
The police officer said the woman did not approach the police immediately after the incident but took another bus to her hometown and narrated the incident to her friend on the phone while travelling.
On her friend’s advice, she got down within the city limits, and went to the police station, Patil said.
The DCP said police have formed eight teams to nab him.
What we know about the bus
As per a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation report on the incident, the bus in which the woman passenger was raped arrived at the Swargate bus stand from Solapur on February 25 around 3.40am, and it was parked in front of a sugarcane juice shop in the premises, PTI reported.
According to the MSRTC report, the accused posed as the conductor of the bus and took the woman inside the vehicle. Swargate bus station authorities learnt about the rape incident only at 10am, four hours after the crime.
Strong political reactions
In a statement, Ajit Pawar, who is the guardian minister of Pune district, said the incident is “painful, infuriating, and shameful”, and the accused deserves the death penalty.
“The incident of rape at the Swargate bus station is extremely unfortunate, painful, infuriating and shameful to all in civilized society. The crime committed by the accused is unforgivable and there can be no other punishment for him than death. I have directed the Pune police commissioner to personally look into this matter and investigate it and arrest the accused immediately,” Pawar said.
AIMIM leader Waris Pathan has condemned the rape case and alleged that there was no law and order left in Maharashtra.
Speaking to news agency ANI on Wednesday, Pathan questioned the safety of women in the state despite the government’s “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” campaign and the “Ladli Behna Yojana” scheme.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Vasant More, along with other party leaders, held a protest at the Swargate bus stand where the incident happened.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) has taken suo motu cognizance of the incident and demanded immediate action in the matter. NCW chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar has written to the director general of police and asked him to submit to the commission an action taken report within three days along with an FIR copy, an official said.
State transport minister Pratap Sarnaik directed that all 23 private security guards employed at the bus station be replaced. He also instructed MSRTC managing director Vivek Bhimanwar to conduct a departmental inquiry and submit a report in seven days, an official statement said.
(With inputs from PTI. ANI)