Request for water, food led to accused’s arrest from paddy field in Shirur

Pune: A request for food and water from a house led to the arrest of a 37-year-old man on the run after allegedly raping a woman inside a bus at Swargate bus station in Pune, police said on Friday.

The accused, Dattatray Ramdas Gade, was apprehended from a paddy field following an extensive search operation with the help of drones and sniffer dogs around midnight in Shirur tehsil.

Pune police have said a ligature mark was found on the accused’s neck, raising suspicion that he might have attempted suicide.

A senior police officer said, “Gade was brought to Pune by 2 am. He was sent for a medical examination and formally arrested. The accused will be produced in court later in the day.”

Gade, a history-sheeter, fled to his native place in Shirur after allegedly sexually assaulting a 26-year-old woman inside a state transport bus at Swargate bus station in the early hours of Tuesday. According to sources, the accused switched off his mobile phone, but the police managed to reach his village and found out he had visited a house requesting water.

Pune police on Thursday deployed drones and a dog squad in Gunat village to nab the accused, and 13 teams were part of the search operation, an official said.

“The search operation in sugarcane fields with drones and dog squads was stopped at night. However, we received information that Gade had visited a house asking for food. We rushed to the spot, but he managed to flee. The family in the house gave him a bottle of water,” the official said.