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.

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