Pune bus rape case: Identification parade of accused to be conducted in jail, say cops

Pune, Mar 12 (PTI) The test identification parade (TIP) of the accused in the Swargate bus rape case will be conducted in jail in the wake of a local court remanding him to judicial custody, police said on Wednesday.

The accused, Dattatray Gade, had allegedly raped a 26-year-old woman inside a stationary Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus at the Swargate terminus located in the heart of the city in the early hours of February 25.

On Wednesday, Gade was produced in a local court at the end of his 12-day police custody. The court sent him to judicial custody till March 26.

"Since the accused has been sent to judicial custody, we will be requesting the court for the test identification parade of the accused inside jail," a Crime Branch official said.

A TIP is a procedure in criminal investigations, where a suspect is presented before witnesses or victims to confirm their identity from amongst a group of persons.

After the court writes a letter to the jail authorities and the executive magistrate (tehsildar), TIP will be conducted inside the jail in the presence of an executive magistrate and jail officials, where no police personnel will be present.

"The executive magistrate and jail authorities will then prepare a report of the TIP and forward it to the police," he said.

According to police, the victim was waiting for a bus at the Swargate bus stand to go to her native place in Satara district in the early hours of February 25 when Gade approached her posing as a bus conductor, and offered to take her to a waiting bus.

As per the complaint, the victim went with Gade inside a bus, only to find it empty with no lights. The accused followed her inside the bus, closed both doors and allegedly raped her.

Gade, who faces half a dozen criminal cases, was tracked down on February 28 in an agriculture field near his native Gunat village under Shirur tehsil of Pune district with the help of drones and sniffer dogs. PTI SPK NP