Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi hailed the father of slain terrorist Mohammad Saifullah for refusing to accept his son’s body for “betraying the nation.” The 22-year-old self-radicalised terrorist was killed in a shootout with the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad in lucknow in the wee hours of Wednesday.
The Minister praised Saifullah’s father Mohammad Sartaj. “I express sympathy for the father. The country and the Government are proud of him and I am sure Parliament is too for saying ‘desh pahle hai,’” Rajnath said.
Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad too saluted Sartaj for not accepting his son’s body and branding him a “traitor”. Azad described the stand taken by Sartaj as “courageous.”
“A father has rejected a son for the sake of the nation...My salute. This shows there is no dearth of nationalist Muslims in India,” said the leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
In Kanpur, Sartaj offered his thanks to Rajnath and Azad stating, “This message should be for the whole country. Ordinary people like us are being given respect by Ministers.”
On the other hand AIMIM chief Owaisi wondered why “politics” was being played on the issue when the terror suspect’s father himself had refused to accept his son’s body. “Why should politics be done on thisIJ I need not say anything further when his father has clearly said that they will not accept his body. What else can I or the community say,” he said outside Parliament.
Rajnath said that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) will probe suspected terror cases, including the lucknow encounter and the terror blast in the Bhopal-Ujjain Passenger train on Tuesday. Six suspects were arrested by the police in MP and UP on terror charges, the Home Minister said in a statement in the lok Sabha.
Detailing the various cases registered in the two States following the train blast which injured 10 people, Rajnath said the State police arrested three suspects in Hoshangabad in MP, following which the UP cops acted in various parts of the State following information provided by the accused and nabbed three persons.
“The above sequence of events presents an excellent example of coordination amongst State police and Central Intelligence agencies.
Due to the prompt action taken by the police of both the States, a possible threat to national security was successfully averted,” he said.
The Home Minister said eight pistols, 630 live cartridges, Rs 1.5 lakh, three mobiles phones, four SIM cards, two wireless sets and some foreign currency were recovered from the place where Saifullah lived. “Further investigations will be handed over to the NIA,” he said.