Bus Rape Accused Ran Cab On Pune-Ahilayanagar Route, Robbed Elderly Women

A serial offender, the Pune bus rape accused Dattatray Gade had often robbed passengers he took on his car that he operated as a taxi. He was detained in Maharashtra's Shirur for the alleged rape of a 26-year-old woman inside a state transport bus parked just 100 meters away from a police station.

Gade would often be seen around the bus station where he assaulted the woman on Tuesday. He would introduce himself as a policeman to people, as per sources. He did the same with the woman he attacked, according to the sources.

Gade has been named in half a dozen cases of theft, robbery and chain-snatching in Pune and Ahilyanagar district. He has been out on bail since 2019 in one of the cases.

It emerged during police investigation that he had bought a car on loan in 2019. He would operate the vehicle as a taxi on the Pune-Ahilyanagar route. He would allegedly offer to drop heavily-adorned elderly women home, take them to a deserted place near the highway and rob them on knifepoint. He would then abandon them at the spot and flee with their belongings.

In fact, he served five to six months in jail for a robbery in 2020.

Gade's family is very poor, living in a concrete house with a thatched roof in the Gunat village, 72 kilometres from Pune. His parents work on their agricultural land to fend for themselves. Among his family in the village are his brother, wife and young children. As per villagers in Gunat, Gade started the liquor and taxi businesses to earn quick money.

Questions were also raised about Gade's picture appearing on a banner featuring Ashok Pawar, former MLA of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP). He was allegedly working for the leader during the Assembly election campaign last year. Gade unsuccessfully contested for a local post in Gunat village.

Amid outrage over the rape, it has been highlighted that the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation does not have a Chief Security and Vigilance Officer (CSVO) and hasn't had one since June 2022. Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik said he had asked the state home department to appoint an IPS officer to the position.