New Delhi, Mar 9 (Agencies) : Mohammad Sartaj, father of terror suspect Saifullah who was killed in an encounter in Lucknow, has made a remarkable gesture by disowning his son, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in Parliament today.

"The government is proud of Mohammed Sartaj. I express sympathy for the father and I am sure the House joins me," Rajnath said in Lok Sabha while briefing the House over the Tuesday's Lucknow terror encounter. The minister said that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) will be probing the Lucknow encounter.

Saifullah's father had yesterday refused to accept his body, saying what his son did was "not in the country's interest". "We will not accept the body of an anti-national," he had said.
All possible efforts were made by police to dissuade Saifullah but sources said he was adamant despite his family's intervention.

When Saifullah did not surrender despite persuasion by police, a meeting took place between top officers of the Uttar Pradesh Police to chalk out a strategy to discourage him from resisting security forces.

Police by then had managed to identify Saifullah's relatives and decided to rope them in to talk him into surrendering.

Senior police officers opened channels of communication and made his Kanpur-based brother Khalid speak to him for at least one hour.

Saifullah, however, was not receptive; rather he was hostile and did not respond. He was "screaming that he wanted to die".

BJP SHOULD STOP POLITICS OVER LUCKNOW ENCOUNTER: OWAISI

Talking to India Today, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi slammed the BJP and RSS, saying they should stop politicising the Lucknow encounter.

"The RSS doesn't need more proof of patriotism from a father who refused to take the son's body because he was terrorist. But can the BJP stop doing politics over the issue," Owaisi said.