Who is Parvez Ansari? Lucknow-based doc linked to Red Fort blast

UP ATS and central agencies arrested Dr Parvez Ansari, 41, after raids in Lucknow uncovered phones, devices, and documents tied to the blast module.

The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and central agencies have arrested a Lucknow-based doctor, Dr Parvez Ansari, 41, for allegedly playing a key role in the module behind the November 10 Red Fort blast. Ansari is the younger brother of Dr Shaheen Shahid — arrested in Faridabad in early November for her role in the same network, said ATS officials familiar with the probe.

Ansari, who worked at a Lucknow university, resigned abruptly on Nov 6 before vanishing; officials say he played a key role in the terror network. (HT Photo)

Lucknow ADCP (North) Amol Murkut said that ATS and local police teams had searched Ansari’s house in Muttakipur on IIM Road under Madiaon police station on Monday night and Tuesday morning. Multiple mobile phones, electronic devices, and documents were seized from the house. The search, officials said, was based on inputs from Haryana and J&K police.

Ansari is under interrogation by J&K police and the UP ATS.

Ansari’s father told investigators that his son had bought the separate house in Madiaon a year ago. Ansari worked at a private minority university in Lucknow; university officials said Ansari, who completed his MBBS in Lucknow in 2011 and MD in Agra in 2015, was serving as a senior resident since July 2021 but abruptly resigned on November 6 – a day before news broke of Dr Adeel Rather’s arrest in Kulgam, the first of several doctor arrests in a case that started with JeM posters being put up in Kashmir, and ended with a blast in Delhi – and vanished soon after.

ATS officials said dust-covered furniture and an unused car at Ansari’s home indicated he had fled several days earlier. Neighbours described him as a quiet man who offered regular prayers at a local mosque but rarely interacted with others. “Ansari’s disappearance is deeply suspicious. The recovery from his home suggests the module may involve more operatives than identified so far,” a senior ATS officer said, asking not to be named.