"Missing" 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts convict nabbed in Kanpur

A convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case, Jalees Ansari, who went "missing" while on parole, was arrested on Friday from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, an official said.

Ansari (68), a Mumbai resident who was serving a life term in a Rajasthan jail, was nabbed in a joint operation of Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Sqaud and the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF), he said.

Ansari, known as Dr Bomb for his suspected involvement in more than 52 blast cases across the country, went "missing" on early Thursday morning.

He was on a 21-day parole and was expected to return to Ajmer Central Jail by Friday evening after end of the parole period, he said.

Ansari, a resident of Mominpura in Agripada in central Mumbai, is a MBBS doctor by training.

While on parole, he was ordered to visit the Agripada police station everyday between 10.30 am and 12 pm to mark attendance, he said.

However, Ansari did not visit the police station on Thursday during the designated time, the official said.

In the afternoon, his 35-year-old son, Jaid Ansari, approached the police station with a complaint about his "missing" father, he said.

According to the complaint, Jalees Ansari woke up in the early hours and told family members he is going to offer namaz, but did not return home.

On his complaint, the Agripada Police registered a missing case, he said.

The Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police, the Maharashtra ATS and other agencies launched a massive manhunt for the terror convict, he said.

Jalees was allegedly connected with terror outfits like SIMI and Indian Mujahideen and taught their members how to make bombs, which earned him the sobriquet Dr Bomb, he said.

He was also questioned by the NIA in 2011 in connection with the 2008 bomb blast in Mumbai, he said.