“We have information that three people have been detained at Jeddah airport. But there is no official confirmation and neither has anyone approached us yet. We are trying to check who the three are and what the purpose of their detention is through official sources and informers,” said Rakesh Maria, Mumbai’s Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime).

Sources said that the Indian mission in Saudi Arabia had passed on details of the passports and identity of Anees, who is wanted under an Interpol Red Corner notice, to local authorities but were yet to hear from them until late on Tuesday.

According to sources, Anees Ibrahim Kaskar was travelling under the name Sayed Omar Haji Ebrahim and carrying a Pakistani passport. The other two are suspected to be Salim Chiplun travelling as Sikander Khan Iqbal Khan and Shamsher Dawood as Shafi Bawa Ahmed Bawa.

Sources in Gujarat said that Shamsher Dawood is none other than Sharifkhan Pathan, sharpshooter of former Ahmedabad underworld don Abdul Latif Abdul Wahab Shaikh.

Pathan is wanted by Gujarat Police for a number of offences including counterfeiting, forgery, crime involving the use of weapons and explosives, terrorism, thefts and kidnapping among others. A Red Corner notice has been issued against Pathan by the Interpol at the behest of CBI.

Anees, who is wanted in Mumbai for training youths for the blasts, is also wanted by Gujarat Police in at least one case. If confirmed, it would not be the first time that Anees has been detained in a Middle-Eastern country.

He is known to have been held in Dubai twice since 1996 and once in Bahrain about a decade ago. But each time he was let off for want of evidence. In 2002, Dubai is believed to have deported him to Pakistan despite the CBI sending an extradition request saying he was one of the main conspirators in the Mumbai blasts.

Security sources said that if Anees’s detention is confirmed, a newly introduced fingerprint identity system at Jeddah airport would have led to the breakthrough. Although Anees as well as Dawood are known to travel around the region by faking their identities and passports, Indian agencies have fingerprints of both on record and they have been circulated through Interpol.

The fingerprint system was introduced by Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry about six months ago to plug a loophole in its immigration system which was apparently being misused by people who entered the country on Umrah Visas and stayed on illegally and sought employment.

Anees, sources said, is known to have passports of India, Pakistan and U.A.E., and has performed Umrah several times. Although India does not have an extradition treaty with Saudi Arabia, some officials said they were hopeful of progress if his detention is confirmed as Saudi Arabia had co-operated with the world in connection with terror cases and investigations after the 9/11 attacks.

(With inputs from ENS, New Delhi/Ahmedabad)