Speaking to The Free Press Journal, Smartana Patil, DCP Zone II, denied that there was any prior communication between Dattatraya Gade, the accused in the Swargate bus rape case, and the female victim.
"In our probe, it has come to light that no prior communication occurred between the accused Gade and the victim," said Patil. "Gade will be sent for the DNA test at Sassoon General Hospital soon. His mobile phone has been seized and sent to a forensic lab," she added, saying that the police are investigating the case further.
Earlier, the lawyers representing Gade - Sajid Shah, Wajed Khan Bidkar, Ajinkya Mahadik and Sumit Pote - claimed that "nothing was done forcefully". They said the alleged incident occurred at 5:45 in the morning and the victim could have "shouted and sought help."
In the court, the defence lawyers argued that the accused never forced the victim and they allegedly had consensual physical relations that cannot be called rape.
They also argued that the accused was not convicted in any of the cases in the past. They argued that previous cases were of robberies and thefts and none of these were crimes against women.
The lawyers have even claimed that the accused and the victim knew each other for over a month. "In the CCTV footage, it is clear that he isn't forcing the victim to go with him. It is seen that she is walking ahead of him," they added.
Gade is currently in police custody till March 12.
