'Dr Bomb' Jalees Ansari, Serial Blast Convict Who Went Missing While On Parole, Arrested Again

Jalees Ansari, convict in several serial blasts across India who went "missing" while on parole, has been arrested again. Ansari (68), a Mumbai resident who was serving a life term in a Rajasthan jail, was nabbed from Kanpur in a joint operation of Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad and the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF).

Ansari, known as Dr Bomb for his suspected involvement in more than 52 blast cases across the country, went "missing" on early Thursday morning. According to his family, he had gone 'missing' while visiting his family in Mumbai. Ansari was scheduled to report back to the Ajmer jail on Friday but his family members filed a missing complaint at the Agripada police station on Thursday.

Jalees 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 son Jaid Ansari, approached the police station with a complaint about his "missing" father. 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.

The Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police, the Maharashtra ATS and other agencies launched a massive manhunt for the terror convict, he said. Ansari was arrested coming out of a mosque in Kanpur and was later brought to Lucknow. Ansari has been convicted in the Jaipur serial blasts, Ajmer blasts and Malegaon blast case and had undergone training in Pakistan back in the 1990s. He is said to have been radicalised by terrorist Abdul Karim Tunda while he was working for the BMC.

Ansari became an expert in TNT and bombs. He was released on parole following a supreme court order on 28 December. He had in the past led modules within SIMI and Indian Mujahideen.