Oracle executive held after 15 years of his wife’s murder

BENGALURU: The man was impersonating as a senior executive in a multinational company.He was wanted in a 15-year-old murder case was caught in Bengaluru on Wednesday following a joint operation by central crime branch agents and Ahmedabad police. Police officials said Tarun Kumar Jinaraj, suspected of murdering his wife, was on the run for the past 15 years. He had manifested personal reports and was working as a senior manager with Oracle (Bannerghatta Road) under the name Pravin Bhateley at the time of his arrest. He stayed in BTM Layout II Stage.Tarun is the prime suspect in the sensational murder of Sajni Jinaraj in Ahmedabad-Bopal area on February 14, 2003. 

He had told police authorities  that dacoits raided his apartment and killed Sajni, 26, a bank executive, before fleeing with valuables. Overall , going by present evidence, including the manner in which household articles were strewn around the flat, police suspected the involvement of an insider. Two days after Sajni’s death, Tarun disappeared.Accused changed identity, couldn’t be detected easily, In the meantime, Ahmedabad police detained his parents, brother, sister-inlaw and others in connection with the case.However, while filing the chargesheet, police dropped the charge of murder and booked Tarun went on to the Dowry Prohibition Act.

The move dragged criticism from several quarters and Sajni’s parents approached then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi for help.Her parents suspected that Tarun had killed their daughter so that he could move in with his former girlfriend. 

The case was then recurred. Gujarat police, meanwhile, launched a massive chase for the man and visited several states seeking help. A source in the CCB said: “Gujarat police were in contact with us for a long time and had come here several times to collect information. As the accused had changed his name to Pravin Bhateley and forged documents to live in the city, it was difficult to trace him. After receiving a tip, we zeroed in on the suspect and began following him. He was nabbed at his office while he was on duty. He worked the night shift.”

Sources said Bhateley had called a family member, who was under police observation, on the mobile device and that gave away his current  location. Tarun had married again and has two children.Police are investigating how he succeeded in forging a new identity and how he had hoodwinked the companies he had worked for during the employee verification check. He has been taken back to Gujarat for further investigation.