Mumbai: Footage retrieved from CCTV cameras at the Swargate bus depot gave Pune police their first break. The next step was tapping into its network of informers to identify the suspect. And finally, recovery of shoes of the same make, as seen in the CCTV footage, from the suspect’s house.
Forty-eight hours since the crime, Dattatraya Gade—the man who allegedly raped a woman inside a stationery Shivshahi bus operated by the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC)— is still at large.
Pune police have announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh in exchange for any information that might lead them to him. At least 13 police teams have been formed to nab Gade, a Pune resident and history-sheeter booked in the past for petty crimes such as chain snatching and theft.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Smartana Patil told ThePrint Thursday, “Our first priority is to catch him and we are closing in. We have to make sure that he gets the strictest punishment in this case.”
“…she (complainant) did not shout or make any noise and so no one around was alerted. There has been no other physical assault,” said DCP Patil. Sections 64 (rape) and 351 (2) (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) have been invoked in the FIR.
Even as the police continue to search for the suspect and the state government leaps to damage control, the Opposition is questioning why such measures to ensure the safety of women in public spaces, especially bus depots, weren’t taken any earlier.
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What happened at Swargate bus depot
In her statement to the police, the 26-year-old woman living in Pune said she was at the Swargate bus depot at around 5.30 am Tuesday morning to board a bus to her hometown in Satara district. She said that all buses heading towards Satara leave from a particular spot, which is where she was waiting when a man approached her. He addressed her as “tai” (sister) and asked where she was going. The man then claimed that her bus was parked on the other side of the bus depot and offered to help her board it.
According to her statement to the police, he then led her to a bus with no lights inside. When she got suspicious, the man told her that the lights had been switched off since a few passengers were sleeping inside the bus. She boarded the bus and he followed her, closing the door behind him.
The man then allegedly raped the woman and fled the spot.
After the incident, the woman boarded another bus to her hometown but managed to inform a friend about what had happened while on her way. The friend convinced her to return to Pune and lodge a police complaint.
How cops identified suspect
Pune police, after registering a complaint, combed through CCTV footage from the area.
The man, police sources said, was wearing a mask and only the complainant had seen his face. “We have our own informers and once we saw the suspect in CCTV footage, we checked our database and also alerted our informers. One record matched. His (Dattatraya Gade’s) physique also matched,” a police official told ThePrint on condition of anonymity.
Next, the police showed Gade’s picture to the complaint who at first said it was a 70 percent match—she was then shown a second picture and said it was 90 percent match. The police then reached Gade’s house and recovered shoes of the same make worn by the man as seen in the CCTV footage.
Gade, it is learnt, was booked in 4-5 cases earlier and is currently out on bail. “We are also now investigating whether he committed such a heinous crime before or not. But all of that will be once we nab the suspect and interrogate him,” said the police official quoted earlier.
Police teams are also tracking at least 10-15 people known to the suspect.
The official added that the complainant and her mother, now in their hometown in Satara district, are undergoing counselling and that senior officials from the police force have spoken to both of them.
Maharashtra govt springs into action
On Thursday, Maharashtra’s junior minister for home affairs Yogesh Kadam inspected the Swargate bus depot. “The police identified the suspect within half an hour (of registering the complaint) and are tracking the suspect. He will be caught soon,” he told the media.
Kadam also responded to criticism of the police for not going public with the identity of the suspect any sooner. “It was not that the police were being negligent or wanted to suppress the case, it was only because we did not want to alert the suspect,” he said.
Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik too held emergency meetings Thursday with officials concerned to discuss measures to make public transport safer for women. Speaking to the media later, Sarnaik said he had ordered an audit of all bus depots in the state. “We are working towards bringing in more safety for women, elderly people, students, etc. Yes, there are some shortcomings at the depots, and we are working to resolve them and will come to know about them after a thorough audit.”
Sarnaik said a decision has been made to appoint an IPS officer for the MSRTC, for which the ministry will write to the home department. Another measure discussed was installation of CCTV cameras and GPS tracking devices inside all state-run buses. Orders have also been issued to clear depots of any damaged buses or four-wheelers lying there by 15 April.
Further, the minister said it has been decided to increase the number of women security guards at bus depots to 15-20 percent. There are currently around 2,700 security guards deployed at bus depots across the state.
Commenting on the case, Sarnaik told the media, “From the CCTV, it was seen that the man knew the door of the bus was open. So whoever was responsible and complicit with the man won’t be spared, be it the bus driver, conductor or even the depot manager.”
MSRTC currently operates a fleet of around 14,300 buses, besides some 400 electric buses and another 300 on wet lease—a system under which buses are procured from private contractors who pay for their maintenance and insurance, while also providing drivers.
Meanwhile, the Opposition in the state attacked the Mahayuti government by highlighting the case as an indication of failure of law and order.
A group led by Vasant More of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) Wednesday smashed window panes and furniture inside the security office at Swargate bus depot, while groups of women raised slogans against the authorities for failure to make public spaces safe for women.
Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MP from Baramati Supriya Sule pointed out that the incident took place less than 150 metres from the Swargate police station. “It raises concerns over the safety of women in the state. There is a serious crime taking place in the city every day and the home department has failed to curb crime. It shows the pathetic state of law and order. The culprit should be given stringent punishment and the case should be tried in a fast-track court,” she said.
And state Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal accused the state government of “shielding corrupt ministers” in the face of heinous crimes.
Defending the police, minister Kadam said they conducted their regular rounds in Swargate—at 1 am and then again at 3.30 am. He also said that the police track the movements of at least 1,000 history-sheeters each day.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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