Mumbai, Feb 28: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said the accused in the Pune bus rape case has been nabbed and based on the technical and forensic details the police will carry out a detailed investigation.

The probe will reveal the turn of events and further details, he said.

“The police have arrested the accused, who was hiding. However, the police found him using various technologies. Soon, the entire incident will be revealed. The Police Commissioner has given some information about the incident. It would not be appropriate to give the remaining information at this stage. All the information will be available after the investigation,” he said.

CM Fadnavis further stated, “It would be premature to talk about this right now. The accused will be taken into custody. An investigation will be conducted after that.”

Pune Police arrested Dattatray Gade, who is the accused in the Swargate rape case, at around 1.30 a.m. on Friday. He was picked up from a sugarcane farm in Gunat village in Shirur taluka, where he was hiding. The police had deployed 13 teams comprising over 500 personnel and a dog squad for Gade’s look out who was missing since Tuesday after he raped a 26-year-old woman inside a bus in Swargate bus depot.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Nikhil Pingle led the team that nabbed Gade and later handed him over to Swargate police for further investigation.

Police sources said a hectic search was launched to arrest Gade in his home village, Gunat. Police personnel from the crime branch, drone cell, and dog squad from the surrounding districts were deployed. DCP Pingle said the villagers cooperated with the police during Gade’s search operation.

The police commissioner, Amritesh Kumar, said the preliminary medical examination of the accused revealed that rope wounds were visible on his neck; judging by these wounds, he may have tried to commit suicide. The accused has also confessed to this. However, his attempt failed because the rope broke, and by that time, the people came to the site. A team will be sent there to investigate whether he had actually attempted suicide.

Meanwhile, CM Fadnavis remarked on Minister of State for Home Yogesh Kadam’s comment that in the incident that took place in the Shivshahi bus, there was no resistance from the victim. Since there was no resistance, no one suspected this.

“Yogesh Kadam’s statement was taken differently. Swargate bus depot is situated in a crowded area. There were many people there. The bus where the crime took place was outside. Yogesh Kadam was trying to say that people did not notice the resistance,” said the Chief Minister.

He, however, added, “Kadam is a new Minister. Therefore, my advice to him is that we have to be more sensitive when speaking in such cases. If something goes wrong while speaking, it has a negative impact on the public mind.”

CM Fadnavis also had a word of advice for Textile Minister Sanjay Savkare, who earlier said that “such incidents happen not in Pune alone but in other parts of the country”. The CM asked him to be sensitive while making statements in such cases.

Mumbai, Feb 27: A day after 26 year old woman was raped inside the state transport bus in Swargate depot from Pune, Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik on Thursday announced a slew of measures to upgrade security in buses and depots of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC).

The minister called for the use of Artificial Technology, installation of CCTVs and GPS system in buses, installation of alarm and locking systems in buses, disposal of scrapped buses, four-wheelers and two-wheelers currently parked in various depots by April 15 and safety audit of all bus depots.

Further, the minister said the department will appeal to the chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for the deployment of a senior IPS officer in the MSRTC to supervise and handle the security-related issues.

The minister further stated that the department and MSRTC will also seek help from various undertakings and the state security board to deploy more security guards in the bus depots across the state.

Currently, there are only 2,700 security guards, comprising fewer women, so the department will desire more security guards and also about 15 to 20 per cent additional women as security guards.

Sarnaik was speaking after he chaired a high-level meeting with the officers of the transport department and MSRTC to review the present security arrangements at MSRTC depots and further steps to be taken to improve the safety of women in particular. He has already ordered an inquiry into the rape case and asked the administration to suspend the concerned officers if found lapses in their functioning.

“There are about 15,000 buses, including newly inducted EV buses in the fleet of MSRTC. It was decided to use AI to improve security in buses and at the depots. The CCTVs, GPS system, alarm and locking systems will be installed in these buses. In addition, the scrapped buses, two and four wheelers not in use currently, parked at various depots, will be disposed of by April 15 so that the anti-social elements should not take undue advantage. The disposal of these scrapped vehicles will be jointly conducted by the transport department, regional transport offices and MSRTC,” he said.

He further added that there are around 800 bus depots and stations where these security arrangements will be further strengthened and the cleanliness there will also be implemented.

“The department will soon conduct a safety and security audit of these depots,” the minister said.

Sarnaik said that the department will make a special appeal to the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to depute an IPS officer in the MSRTC to look after security aspects. He added that the post has been lying vacant despite the department’s request made in the past.

Sarnaik said that he has already ordered a departmental inquiry by senior officers about the functioning of the assistant transport superintendent and Swargate depot manager. They will be suspended immediately if lapses are found while discharging their duties. He said he has asked the acting MSRTC vice chairman and managing director Vivek Bhimanwar to immediately institute an inquiry.

Sarnaik said that his department accords priority to women’s safety. According to him, under the Mahila Samman Yojana, women are given 50 per cent discount on their travels from MSRTC buses. He further stated that due to this, the number of women passengers has increased substantially.

Kolkata, Feb 27: The parents of the victim in the R.G. Kar rape and murder case have sought the appointment of the Director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to complain about the reluctance of the investigating officials in updating them about the progress of the investigation.

The victim’s parents also left for Delhi on Thursday morning, and after reaching there, they will try to reach out to the CBI Director about the matter. At the national capital, they will also be meeting the team of lawyers who are representing them at the Supreme Court.

Noted advocate Karuna Nundy is currently representing the victim’s parents at the apex court, where the next hearing in the matter is scheduled for March 17.

Before leaving for Delhi, the victim’s parents interacted with the media persons and expressed their anguish on the role of CBI’s investigating officials in the matter. They also accused the investigating officers of not answering their phone calls.

“We are going to New Delhi to meet our counsel Karuna Nundy. The legal team who are representing us at the special court in Kolkata are also accompanying us to New Delhi. Some senior medical practitioners are also accompanying us. We will go to the CGO complex in New Delhi and try to meet the CBI director. At the same time, we will be discussing with our counsels on whether the matter can be brought back to Calcutta High Court from the Supreme Court,” the victim’s father told media persons before leaving for the national capital.

The victim’s mother said their main complaint against the CBI is the slow pace of investigation, especially as regards the angle of tampering with or altering of the evidence in the case.

The CBI counsel, on February 24, informed the special court in Kolkata that their investigation into the matter is underway and a supplementary charge sheet in the matter will be filed shortly. Incidentally, the special court had recently sentenced the sole convict in the crime, Sanjay Roy, to life imprisonment.