Pune Rape Case: A lengthy manhunt ended Friday morning with the arrest of Dattatray Ramdas Gade, 37, who has been accused of raping a woman inside a bus in Pune's Swargate bus station. According to the authorities, Gade was arrested when he asked for food and drink from a house.

The accused may have attempted suicide, according to the police, as ligature marks were discovered on his neck.

"According to the primary medical report, a ligature mark was found on the accused. It is suspected that he attempted suicide. We are waiting for the final report," Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Gade had been hiding in a Shirur tehsil village's paddy field. To find his hiding place, the authorities employed drones and sniffing dogs.

Although the accused turned off his cell phone, the police were able to go to his village and discovered that he had gone to a residence to ask for water.

ALSO READ: Pune Bus Rape: How Police Zeroed In On Accused After 70 Hours Of Manhunt; Key Details Revealed

After raping a 26-year-old woman aboard a bus, Gade, who had a criminal past, ran away to his hometown of Shirur. To apprehend him, the Pune police employed a dog squad and drones in Gunat village.

Ranjan Kumar Sharma, the joint commissioner of police, also went to the area and gave his officers a briefing.

"The search operation in sugarcane fields with drones and dog squads was stopped at night. However, we received information that Gade had visited a house asking for food. We rushed to the spot, but he managed to flee. The family in the house gave him a bottle of water," the official said.

The family told the police about the accused. He was discovered hiding in a paddy field by the cops.