Rajnath Singh to father of terror suspect killed in Lucknow: 'Entire country proud of you'
Rajnath Singh
Sartaj refused to accept his son's body, denouncing him as anti-national
Home minister Rajnath Singh today expressed sympathy with the father of the alleged terrorist who was killed in an encounter in Lucknow after he refused to accept his son's body saying "a traitor cannot be my son".
Sartaj, the father ofSaifullah, who was allegedly linked to Islamic State, said that "someone who doesn't belong to the country can't belong to us".
The home minister said that the entire country is proud of Sartaj.
The National Investigation Agency will investigate the incident, he added.
Saifullah was killed in an encounter with the Uttar Pradesh Anti-terror Squadon Wednesday.
He was persuaded to surrender but he refused and opened fire after which the security forces fired back.
Authorities said that Saifullah was part of an Islamic State module that was planning a "major attack" in India this month.
They also added that he was part of the same group that had carried out the explosion on the Bhopal-Ujjain train on Tuesday.
(WION with inputs from agencies)