Pune bus rape case: Police announce Rs 1 lakh reward for information on absconding accused

As many as 13 police teams are working to track down accused Dattatray Ramdas Gade (37) who is on the run since the incident which took place on early Tuesday morning, an official said.

Mumbai: Amid massive public outrage after the rape of a 26-year-old woman in a stationary bus in the State Transport (ST) bus depot in Swargate, the Pune police on Thursday compounded efforts to track down the absconding accused Dattatraya Ramdas Gade by announcing a Rs 1 lakh reward for information about him.

Even as detectives were fanned out at several locations, police have deployed a dog squad and are using drones in Shirur in Pune district to track down the suspect while also depending on technical and human intelligence.

Couple of teams are also camping in the neighboring Ahilyanagari district.

Meanwhile, some political links of the 36-year-old history-sheeter surfaced with the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi intensifying attacks against the MahaYuti government.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, who is the state Home Minister and Deputy CMs Eknath Shinde, whose party controls the Transport department and Ajit Pawar, who is the guardian minister of Pune district, are constantly reviewing the situation.

The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) too has come under severe criticism from the people.

“We assure that strict action would be taken against the accused…he needs to be hanged,” Shinde said.

“The incident is painful, infuriating, and shameful and the accused deserves the death penalty,” Pawar said.

The CM and Dy CMs have spoken to Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar to review the situation.

Meanwhile, state Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik held a high-level meeting of the Transport department and MSRTC to review the situation after the incident.

"Since the introduction of a 50 per cent fare concession for women, the number of female passengers using ST buses has increased significantly. In this meeting, important decisions were made to enhance their safety and security,” he said, and sought appointment of IPS officers in the Transport department to ensure security and safety of passengers.

Sarnaik also asked MSRTC Managing Director Vivek Bhimanwar to conduct a departmental inquiry and submit a report in seven days.

“CCTV and GPS will be made mandatory in all ST buses. We will increase the number of female security personnel, audit of all bus depots will be conducted, old buses will be scrapped and cleanliness will be prioritised in ST depots,” said Sarnaik.

Meanwhile, police teams were fanned out at several locations to track down the accused. “13 teams have been constituted to nab the accused…we will surely arrest the accused,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police Smartana Patil.

The police have spoken to the accused’s family members, including his brother, and known associates as part of the investigations.