A change of clothes was all it took for the dog squad to pick up the trail and locate Dattatray Gade, the man accused of raping a 26-year-old woman on a bus in Pune last Tuesday. After a 75-hour search, Gade was finally arrested late last night.
The police launched a widespread manhunt, using drones and deploying 13 teams of officers, totalling over 100 personnel, across Pune district and surrounding areas. The breakthrough came when Gade arrived at a relative’s home at 10:30 pm on Thursday. His relatives immediately notified the police.
Before leaving the house, Gade reportedly told his family, “I’ve made a big mistake, and I need to turn myself in,” after taking a bottle of water.
At the scene, the police found a changed shirt, which they handed over to the dog squad. The dogs quickly picked up his scent, guiding the officers along his escape route. Gade had been hiding in a sugarcane field near a canal not far from his relatives’ house.
It was the local villagers who ultimately spotted Gade hiding in the canal. Reports claimed that the locals, after identifying him, immediately alerted the police, who promptly took him into custody and transported him to Pune. There, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Swargate Police Station formally arrested him.
Gade, 37, from Shirur in Pune district, has six registered cases across various police stations, including Shirur and Shikarpur in Ahilyanagar district.
His criminal activity dates back to 2019, when he bought a four-wheeler on loan, which he used as an illegal cab along the Pune-Ahilyanagar route. During this time, he targeted elderly women, pretending to be compassionate before robbing them. After his arrest, authorities recovered around 140 grams of stolen gold.
In 2020, Gade was convicted of robbery in Karde Ghat near Shirur and served a brief jail sentence of five to six months. Although he was released, other cases against him remained unresolved, including two in Shikarpur and one each in Supa, Kedgaon, and Kotwali police stations. Despite his criminal record, Gade had remained free on bail since 2019.
Reports claim Gade was involved in politics. He worked with a prominent political leader during the recent assembly elections, and several photos of him with the leader were shared on social media. Gade also ran for a seat in the Sangharsh-Mukti Samiti of Gunat village, though he was unsuccessful.
Gade was frequently seen around the Swargate bus depot, often posing as a police officer. CCTV footage confirmed he was dressed in formal attire, including a shirt, pants, and shoes, on the day of the incident.
According to the police, Gade even introduced himself as a police officer while speaking to the victim, giving her a misleading identity during their interaction.
The victim, a 26-year-old woman working in the medical field, was waiting for a bus to Phaltan in Satara district at the Swargate bus station around 5:45 am on Tuesday. Gade approached her, addressed her as “didi” (sister), and falsely told her that her bus was at a different platform.
He then convinced her to board an empty Shiv Shahi AC bus, claiming it was the correct one. As she hesitated to board the darkened vehicle, he reassured her, only to follow her inside and commit the crime.
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