Dattatraya Ramdas Gade — who is accused of raping a 26-year-old woman at Swargate depot in Pune — was remanded in judicial custody by a city court on Wednesday following a submission by Pune police, who said they were reserving the right to seek his further police custody if and when required for further investigation. Meanwhile, the police have said a Test Identification (TI) parade of the accused will be conducted in prison in the presence of an executive magistrate. Gade (37) was arrested by Pune police from his native village of Gunat in Shirur taluka of Pune district on February 28, following an extensive three-day-long manhunt that involved drones and police canine squads. The probe in the case was transferred to the Crime Branch of Pune City police on March 2. On Wednesday, Crime Branch officials produced him before the court as his 12-day police custody ended. The investigation officer, Inspector Shailesh Sankhe, submitted to the court that Gade be remanded in judicial custody and that the prosecution was reserving the right to seek his remainder of two police custody. The court remanded the accused to 14-day judicial custody. Crime Branch officials said the TI parade will be conducted while the accused is in judicial custody in prison. As part of the laiddown procedure for TI parade, it is conducted in the presence of an executive magistrate, who is of tehsildar rank. Several persons with similar build and appearance as the accused are lined up, including the accused. The victim is then asked to identify the accused. Police and prison authorities cannot be present during the process. After the TI parade, the executive magistrate submits the report to the court, which forms part of the evidence. The 26-year-old working woman was raped inside a stationary ‘Shivshahi’, a semi-luxury bus operated by the state-run Maharashtra State Road transport Corporation (MSRTC) on the premises of Swargate bus depot in Pune in the early hours of February 25. Police investigation revealed the accused had misled her to the wrong bus by gaining her confidence and allegedly raped her inside the closed bus. Meanwhile, a court has rejected the application filed by the victim seeking a restraining order against defamatory statements about her made in public and on social media. The court of Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) had said in its order it was not empowered to decide on the application. Advocate Asim Sarode, who represented the victim, said they have moved a similar application before the Pune district collector, who is also the district magistrate and has the authority to issue such an order. The issue is pending before Pune District Collector Jitendra Dudi. What has happened in the case after accused’s arrest? * Victim’s statement has been recorded before court * Police have conducted panchnama of scene of crime * Statements of eyewitnesses, other witnesses recorded * Clothes accused and victim worn at the time of incident sent for forensic analysis * CCTV footages from around crime scene and surrounding area has been obtained and examined. Search is on for cellphone of accused * DNA samples of accused and victim collected * Police have invoked additional sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 64(2)M, which pertains to repeated rape of victim, as probe revealed accused allegedly raped the victim twice * Police have also added BNS Section 115 (2), which pertains to voluntarily causing hurt, and 127 (2), which is for wrongful confinement * Investigation team has gathered all information about a total of seven criminal cases registered against Gade in various police jurisdictions in the past
