Ahmedabad cops arrest fugitive Tarun Jinaraj in Delhi

His first flight from the law lasted 15 years but his second had a much swifter end.

A month and a half after Tarun Jinaraj - who is accused of murdering his wife Sajni - jumped bail after being released from Sabarmati Central Jail for 15 days on August 4, he was caught by the Ahmedabad cyber crime branch on Wednesday evening at a paying guest facility in Najafgarh, Delhi. 

After Sajni's murder on Valentine's Day 2003, Jinaraj was on the run for 15 years till he was nabbed in October 2018.

On September 19, Jinaraj was missing again after jumping interim bail. A five-member team headed by city cyber crime branch DCP Ajit Rajian was formed to recapture him.

Jinaraj, who had proved a master of disguise and deception, had planned his third life away from the long arm of the law as 'Justin Joseph'.

With his photographs splashed across the internet and social media after his second disappearance, Jinaraj got his head shaved and had a temporary tattoo put on his neck and arm to deepen his disguise, investigators said. 

After his 2003 escape, Tarun Jinaraj assumed the identity of his friend, Pravin Bhateley, secured a job at an MNC and got married.

This time, he said he was Justin Joseph and his luggage and identity documents had been stolen on the train to Delhi.

He even filed an FIR at a Delhi police station for the fake theft and generated forged documents online to get accommodation at the PG facility, police said.

The team tasked with recapturing Jinaraj said the first thing that struck them was that while he had been granted interim bail on July 20, he left prison only on August 4. 

He told the authorities he was having problems arranging a bail guarantor, but police suspect he was already plotting his escape.

Jinaraj chose Najafgarh because it is a hub for South Indian migrants arriving in the capital for corporate jobs.

Once his presence in Najafgarh was confirmed, the five-member team kept vigil at places he would likely visit to set up his ‘third life’. 

A dossier prepared by Ahmedabad crime branch officials — who had toiled to nab him in 2018 — detailing his penchant for branded apparel, snazzy sunglasses and tattoos, came in handy.