Sajni murder case: Ahmedabad court rejects Tarun Jinaraj’s bail plea

AHMEDABAD: A sessions court on Thursday rejected an application for temporary bail filed by Tarun Jinaraj, who was arrested for the murder of his wife Sajni Krishnan after being on the run for 15 years.
Jinaraj, 46, has been behind bars after his arrest in October 2018. His regular bail pleas were turned down by the courts while the last application was withdrawn by him in January after the high court seemed disinclined to release him on bail.
Sources said that Jinaraj had filed the bail application on March 29 for temporary release and the reason he put forth was that his motherwas cheated out of Rs 24 lakh by someone. He wanted to go out and help his mother, he mentioned in his application sent through jail authorities.
District government pleader Pravin Trivedi opposed Jinaraj’s demand for release from jail and informed the court about the accused’s 15-year-long abscondence. Trivedi argued that if released even temporarily, Jinaraj may disappear to evade the trial. Following the objection, the court rejected the bail plea.
Jinaraj was arrested in 2018 after the police traced him to Bengaluru where he was living after assuming the identity of his former hostel mate Praveen Bhatele. Jinaraj’s lawyer claimed an alibi to assert that Jinaraj had nothing to do with his wife’s murder. He submitted that by the time the murder took place, Jinaraj had gone to meet his brother and later to buy a cake and a soft toy on February 14, 2003.