Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi's release unfortunate, disappointing: Rajnath Singh

Lucknow: Voicing concern over the release of top Lashkar leader Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said India wants talks with Pakistan but the release of the Mumbai attack mastermind is an "unfortunate and disappointing" development.

"India wants talks with Pakistan but the present development (release of Lakhvi) is unfortunate and disappointing," he told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

Singh was reacting to the Lahore High Court's judgement on Thursday suspending the detention of 55-year-old Lakhvi under Maintenance of Public Order after the Pakistan government failed to present sensitive records against him in the court.

Asked about alliance partners PDP-BJP in Jammu and Kashmir speaking in different voices on composite townships for settlement of Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley, Singh said, "An agreement has been reached with Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in this regard."

On the killing of five undertrials, who were allegedly associated with SIMI and other radical groups, in police custody in Nalgonda district in Telangana, he evaded giving a direct reply, saying, the matter was a state subject.