LUCKNOW The UP Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and other security agencies, probing the possible extensions of the Faridabad terror module in UP’s capital, Lucknow, traced the links between Dr Shaheen Shahid, 43, who was arrested in connection with the explosives haul in Faridabad on Monday, and her Lucknow-based brother, also a doctor, Parvez Ansari, 41.
Ansari was on Tuesday detained from an unknown location for allegedly playing a key role in the module behind the November 10 Red Fort blast. The J&K Police, investigating the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror module busted after the arrest of Dr Adeel Ahmad Rather from Saharanpur, was interrogating him in Lucknow. “He will be arrested after confirmation of his alleged involvement in the JeM terror module case,” said a senior police official.
Earlier in the day, Ansari’s house in Muttakipur locality on IIM Road under Madiaon police station limits was searched on Tuesday morning, but he was found missing, said ATS officials.
ATS personnel reportedly seized multiple mobile phones, electronic storage devices and documents from his residence. The seized material was being sent for forensic analysis to trace communication networks, financial transactions and digital activity linked to the accused doctors.
Shaheen was married to an ophthalmologist from Maharashtra, who also briefly taught at GSVM College in Kanpur. The couple reportedly divorced in 2015. Since then, she had lived a reclusive life. She was working with a private medical university in Faridabad, confirmed a senior ATS official.
{{/usCountry}}Shaheen was married to an ophthalmologist from Maharashtra, who also briefly taught at GSVM College in Kanpur. The couple reportedly divorced in 2015. Since then, she had lived a reclusive life. She was working with a private medical university in Faridabad, confirmed a senior ATS official.
{{/usCountry}}The revelations heightened concerns among state and central agencies, as investigators suspected the module may have deeper roots than initially believed.
Lucknow ADCP (North) Amol Murkut confirmed that local police and ATS teams searched Parvez Ansari’s house in Muttakipur locality on IIM Road under Madiaon police station on Monday night and Tuesday morning. Ansari has reportedly been missing for six days.
Police officials said the search was conducted based on inputs from Haryana and J&K police.
Ansari’s father, Shahid, questioned by ATS at his parental residence in Hata Mustafa Khan of Khandari Bazar locality here, confirmed that Parvez had purchased a separate house in Madiaon a year ago and lived there with his son Shoaib. Both were working in a private minority university in Lucknow.
University officials said Parvez, who completed his MBBS in Lucknow in 2011 and MD in Agra in 2015, had been working as an assistant professor since July 2021. He abruptly resigned on November 6 — just a day before news of Dr Adeel Ahmad’s arrest from Saharanpur was reported last week — and has been missing since.
ATS officials said thick layers of dust on Parvez’s car and inside the house indicated it had been abandoned for several days. Neighbours also reported not seeing him recently, raising suspicion that he left his Muttakipur house after learning of the arrests in Saharanpur and Faridabad.
Dr Adeel Ahmad, a resident of J&K’s Anantnag, was arrested in Saharanpur on November 7 for alleged links with Jaish-e-Mohammed. His interrogation led police to recover large quantities of suspected ammonium nitrate from a rented house in Faridabad, believed to be used for storing explosives.
Neighbours described Parvez as a quiet man who offered namaz regularly at a nearby mosque but seldom interacted with locals. An ATS official said: “The recovery from his house suggests the module may involve more people than identified so far. We are examining all angles.”