Ansari, who is known as Dr Bomb, was arrested by a team of Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad with the help of a special task force of Uttar Pradesh police while he was coming out of a mosque at Faithfulganj in Kanpur at around 1 pm on Friday

Jalees Ansari had gone missing from his second-floor residence at Ittehaad Co-operative Society in Mumbai’s Mominpura area on Thursday morning.

Jalees Ansari, convicted for carrying out several blasts in trains in 1993, was arrested from Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur on Friday, more than 24 hours after he went missing from Mumbai before reporting back to prison at the end of his parole.

Vinay Rathod, the deputy commissioner of police (ATS), confirmed Ansari was arrested from Kanpur and said he would be brought to Mumbai soon.

The team also recovered Rs 47,780 in cash from Ansari along with his PAN and Aadhar cards, officials said.

Ansari had gone missing from his second-floor residence at Ittehaad Co-operative Society in Mumbai’s Mominpura area on Thursday morning.

“Ansari was serving life imprisonment in Ajmer central prison in Rajasthan but he was brought to Mumbai and was kept in Arthur Road Jail. He was released from Arthur Road on parole a month ago and was supposed to report back on January 17 by 11 am,” said a Mumbai crime branch officer.

Ansari has been accused of plotting and executing several bomb blasts across the country in the early nineties to avenge the demolition of Babri Masjid in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya in 1992.

He allegedly helped set off a series of 43 explosions in Mumbai and Hyderabad and seven separate explosions on trains on December 6, 1993, the first anniversary of the Babri Masjid’s demolition. He was convicted for carrying out the blasts in trains.

One of his three daughters, who did not want to be identified, said Ansari woke up around 4:30 am on Thursday when the family was sleeping and left the house without telling anyone.

“My mother woke up around 6 am and thought that he has gone to prayers as usual. But when he did not return by 7 am, we started inquiring with our neighbours but no one had seen him while going,” the daughter said.

She said he had come home on December 28 and had to report back to Arthur Road Jail on January 17. She said he did not say anything and that they were not aware why and where he had gone.

“After coming out on parole he only used to go out for prayers in the morning. We inquired with neighbours where he used to go for breakfast or have tea but no one was aware,” said another daughter.

Ansari’s son Zahid said everyone in his family was worried after they learnt about his disappearance.

“We all want that my father should be arrested soon. We are cooperating with the police and making all possible efforts to search for him,” Ansari’s son Zahid said before his arrest.

“As soon as we learnt that he left the house with his bag, we immediately inquired with the neighbours and relatives, and informed Agripada police station…” he said.

Ansari’s wife had approached the Agripada police station on Thursday after they found Ansari’s phone switched off and tried to locate him but could not establish any contact.

Mumbai Police along with the anti-terrorism squad, crime branch and several other wings of the police force had been looking for him.