Mumbai serial blasts convict Jalees Ansari, who went missing while on parole, was on Friday arrested in Kanpur by the Uttar Pradesh special task force, state DGP O P Singh said.
Ansari, 68, convicted for the 1993 blasts, went missing From Mumbai on Thursday while on 21-day parole from Rajasthan's Ajmer Central Prison, where he was serving a life term.
Known as Doctor Bomb, Ansari was considered an expert in explosives and played a key role in the blasts in Mumbai.
During the parole period, he was ordered to visit the Agripada police station in Mumbai every day between 10.30 am and 12 pm to mark his attendance, an official said.
However, Ansari did not visit the station on Thursday, triggering a manhunt.
He was arrested on Friday at Kanpur’s Faithfulganj locality when he came out of a mosque and was heading towards the railway station.
Police recovered Rs 47,780 in cash, a diary, a mobile and an Aadhaar card from him.
The UP police was already on high alert in areas adjoining Nepal, apprehending that he could use the porous border to flee the country.
Ansari stayed during the parole period at Mominpura in Mumbai's Agripada area.
On Thursday, after Ansari failed to report at the police station, his 35-year-old son Zaid Ansari filed a complaint about his "missing" father.
On his complaint, the Agripada police registered a missing person case. The Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police and Maharashtra’s anti-terror squad launched a manhunt for him.
Ansari was allegedly connected with terror outfits like SIMI and Indian Mujahidin and taught terror groups how to make bombs. He was also questioned by the National Investigation Agencies in 2011 in connection with the 2008 bomb blasts in Mumbai, an official said.
Published 17 January 2020, 12:49 IST