Pakistan on Wednesday reportedly detained Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar who is blamed by India for the recent terror attack on the Pathankot airbase.
Here is a quick lowdown on one of India's most wanted terrorists and the dreaded outfit he heads.
Before 1994: Maulana Masood Azhar was born in 1968 at Bahawalpur in Pakistan. His father was headmaster at a government school and his family ran a dairy.
He became involved with the Pakistan-based militant outfit Harkat-ul-Ansar and suffered injuries in the Soviet-Afghan War.
He then travelled to many countries including Somalia for terror recruits, before he was arrested in Srinagar in 1994
After Kandahar hijacking: Masood Azhar and two other terrorists were released from an Indian prison in 1999 in exchange for release of 155 passengers of an Indian Airlines plane to Taliban-controlled Kandahar.
After Azhar was freed, he fled to Pakistani territory. Though authorities there claimed ignorance about his whereabouts, Azhar addressed an estimated 10,000 people in Karachi where he vowed to "destroy America and India."
Azhar then formed the Jaish-e-Mohammed to carry out terror attacks in Kashmir.
Parliament attack: Masood Azhar's JeM allegedly carried out the attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001 that brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war.
He was detained for a year by authorities in Pakistan but never formally charged. In December 2002, he was freed following an order from the Lahore high court.
Resurfaces in 2014: Following the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai , Azhar went into seclusion for six years. He resurfaced again in January 2014 at a rally in Muzaffarabad, where he called for resumption of jihad in Kashmir.
Pathankot attack: Azhar and terrorists belonging to the JeM are believed by India to be behind the Pathankot terror attack on January 2 in which seven security personnel were killed. India demanded action against the JeM and hinged this to the fate of bilateral foreign secretary-level talks. On January 13, media reports in Pakistan said Azhar has been detained.
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