How Request For Water Led To Accused Dattatray Gade’s Arrest From Paddy Field In Shirur (Timeline Of Events)

In an intensive operation involving officials from multiple police teams, Dattatray Ramdas Gade, the 37-year-old man accused of raping a woman inside a bus in Pune’s Swargate depot, was arrested in the wee hours of Friday. He was apprehended from a paddy field around 1:10am at Gunat village in Shirur tehsil. The Free Press Journal brings you the entire sequence of events.

– A 26-year-old preoperative counsellor with a city hospital was waiting for a bus to Phaltan at one of the platforms at the Swargate bus station around 5.45am on Tuesday. The accused Gade approached her and said the bus for Satara had arrived at another platform. He took her to an empty Shiv Shahi AC bus parked elsewhere on the station premises. 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 victim narrated the entire incident to her friend who then convinced her to file a case. She then lodged a complaint at the Swargate Police Station. The investigation began immediately and with the help of 23 CCTV cameras in the bus depot and 48 CCTV cameras outside the depot, Gade was identified. It was understood that he was no stranger to the law. He had half a dozen theft, robbery and chain-snatching cases registered against him in Pune and adjoining Ahmednagar district. During the investigation, it also came to light that he was released on bail in a robbery case in 2019. In 2024, a theft case was even lodged in Pune against him and he was summoned to the police station.

– A total of 13 teams were then deployed to track him down, with eight teams from the Crime Branch and five teams from Swargate Police Station working on the ground. Police teams were even dispatched outside the district to intensify the search. Later, the police released a poster of the wanted accused, urging the public to come forward with information. The poster mentioned that a case under section 64, 351(2) of 2023 has been registered against the accused. Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar also announced a reward of ₹1 lakh to anyone providing information about his whereabouts.

– The police teams reached Gade’s house in Gunat village. They deployed drones and a dog squad to trace him. However, it was only after they received information about his presence in the area from a relative at around 10:30pm that they intensified the search. He had reportedly reached a house asking for food and water. During his brief visit to the house, he had a moment of apparent remorse and told his relatives, “I have made a huge mistake. I need to surrender.” However, he fled the house immediately after. After getting information, the police rushed to the spot. A search operation ensued thereafter. They deployed a dog squad to track Gade’s movements. During the operation, officers discovered a discarded shirt belonging to Gade and provided its scent to the dog squad. The trained dogs traced his scent trail but found that he had not retraced his original route. Instead, Gade had dug a small trench near a small canal close to his relative’s house and concealed himself within it. His hiding spot was so discreet that it might have gone unnoticed if not for alert local villagers who spotted him and confirmed his identity.

– According to the primary medical report, a ligature mark was found on the accused. It is suspected that he attempted suicide before the police detained him.

– Commissioner Amitesh Kumar addressed the media after Gade’s arrest and thanked the people of Gunat for cooperation in the search of the accused. He further said that the police are making every effort to build a “watertight case.”