Pune, Feb 27: Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Yogesh Kadam on Thursday blamed the private security guards at the Swargate MSRTC bus depot in connection with the rape of a 26-year-old woman a couple of days ago but asserted the accused had been identified and would be held soon.
The woman was raped allegedly by history-sheeter Dattatray Ramdas Gade (37) early morning on Tuesday inside an ST bus. Thirteen teams have been formed by police to track down Gade.
The security guards at Swargate MSRTC bus terminal are provided by a private agency through the corporation and the depot manager should have been more alert, Kadam said. He hastened to add that he was not claiming the police had no role in preventing such incidents.
“A team under senior inspector of Swargate police station had carried out patrolling in the area from 1:30am and also at 3:30am (on the day of the incident. They (corporation) have not kept tight security so it is the responsibility of the depot manager. He should have checked the functioning of the guards. Providing round the clock security is the responsibility of the MSRTC, which has hired the guards and pays their salaries,” Kadam claimed.
Asked about the MSRTC earlier writing to the police about anti-social elements at Swargate bus depot, Kadam asserted “you cannot run away (from responsibility of security at the facility) by submitting a letter”.
“A pervert sweet talks and brainwashes a woman. There is no argument or use of force. Whatever happened, happened silently. So people around could not be alerted. So instead of indulging in a blame game, let the accused be arrested so that the situation gets clear,” the state minister added.
“The incident took place at 6am and the victim complained to police at 9am. As soon as the complaint was received, the accused was identified and tracked through CCTV. He has absconded. We know he took a bus to flee after going through CCTV footage,” Kadam added.
Kadam said it was not the time for a blame game but asserted the incident could have been prevented if the security at the bus terminal, a busy one in the state’s second largest city, was up to the mark.
Speaking about the coordination between the police and MSRTC apparatus, he said a discussion was held with transport minister Pratap Sarnaik on Wednesday on whether police marshals can be deployed at sensitive places.
Kadam, during his visit to Swargate bus terminal, was accompanied by Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar, Joint Commissioner Ranjan Kumar Sharma and other senior police officials.
(Disclaimer: Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ’s editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
