Saeed Ansari, father of Shaheen Shahid who was earlier arrested in connection with the Delhi blast
LUCKNOW: A day after Jammu and Kashmir police arrested Lucknow-based doctor Dr Shaheen Shahid from Faridabad for alleged links with the banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM), J&K police and UP anti-terrorist squad (ATS) on Tuesday jointly conducted searches at two locations in the state capital – a house on Madion, on the city’s outskirts, and another in Kandhari Bazaar, Lalbagh. The Lalbagh house belongs to Dr Shaheen while her brother, Dr Parvez Ansari, lived in the Madion house. Panic gripped the vicinity when ATS commandos and J&K police arrived in the area in civvies, turning it into a fortress. Police officers confirmed that Ansari – who resigned from his post at a private medical college just a week ago citing a new appointment – has been detained for questioning. His clinic in Dehradun Chowk, Saharanpur, is also under scrutiny. The searches were conducted as part of a probe into JeM’s suspected expansion network in north India. Shaheen, who was arrested with arms and ammunition, including a Russian assault rifle, pistol, and cartridges, is alleged to be a close associate of terror accused Dr Muzammil Ahmad Ganaie of Koil in Pulwama, currently under investigation in the Delhi blast case. According to police officers, the joint team first reached a locked property in the Madion belonging to Ansari, a former assistant professor at a private medical college in Lucknow. The team broke open the lock and recovered digital devices, documents, a car and a motorcycle. The car, bearing the private university’s parking sticker and registered in Saharanpur, was seized for forensic examination. The search team then moved to Kandhari Bazaar, where Shaheen’s parental house is located. Her father, Saeed, was present during the raid and later told reporters, “Officials searched the entire house but found nothing objectionable. My daughter spoke to me a month ago and said she was disturbed due to family issues. I cannot believe she is involved in terrorism.” Officials from ATS, J&K Police, and local Lucknow police remained at the site for over three hours, questioning the neighbours and seizing material for verification. The ongoing investigation seeks to determine whether Shaheen and her associates were part of a larger plan to create an underground women’s network to facilitate terror logistics, propaganda, and recruitment within India. Police said all electronic devices and documents seized from the Lucknow premises have been sealed and sent for forensic analysis.
