Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Saturday announced Rs. 25 lakh each for the families of the martyred police officers.

Mumbai, Nov 29 : Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Saturday announced Rs. 25 lakh each for the families of the martyred police officers.

Addressing a press conference here today, Deshmukh said that the state government would form a force similar to the National Security Guard (NSG).

“The past few days have been very difficult but we want to reiterate that we are not scared of the terrorists. The families of the security officials who lost their lives while fighting the terrorists will be given a compensation amount of Rs. 25 lakh,” Deshmukh told reporters.

“At least one member of the family of each police personnel killed will be given a government job. The families will also be allowed to permanently stay in government houses. The families of the martyred policemen will also receive salaries as per their current pay scales. This will continue till the time the official would have retired if alive,” he added.

Around 350 NSG commandos were involved in the over 60-hour-long counter terrorism operation.

“A force on the lines of the NSG will be set up in Maharashtra,” Deshmukh said. “We will get permission to set up such a force from the Centre.”

“We have also postponed the Winter Assembly Session, which was to begin in Nagpur on Monday. It will now begin on December 11,” he added.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister R. R. Patil said preliminary investigations had revealed that the terrorists wanted to kill over 5,000 people in the attack.

“There were 10 terrorists in all. Nine were killed, while one has been captured alive. They had been continuously getting instructions from abroad via satellite phone.”

“The terrorists came from the sea route on Wednesday morning. They landed near Sassoon Docks in Colaba. From there, they took a taxi in which all their arms and ammunitions were loaded,” Patil said.

“Police have recovered two live bombs, each weighing eight kilograms from the dead terrorists. GPS equipment and sophisticated satellite phones were also recovered from them,” the Maharashtra Home Minister added. (ANI)

Maharashtra Government announces Rs 25 lakh for martyred cops'' family

Mumbai, Nov 29 : Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Saturday announced Rs. 25 lakh each for the families of the martyred police officers.

Addressing a press conference here today, Deshmukh said that the state government would form a force similar to the National Security Guard (NSG).

“The past few days have been very difficult but we want to reiterate that we are not scared of the terrorists. The families of the security officials who lost their lives while fighting the terrorists will be given a compensation amount of Rs. 25 lakh,” Deshmukh told reporters.

“At least one member of the family of each police personnel killed will be given a government job. The families will also be allowed to permanently stay in government houses. The families of the martyred policemen will also receive salaries as per their current pay scales. This will continue till the time the official would have retired if alive,” he added.

Around 350 NSG commandos were involved in the over 60-hour-long counter terrorism operation.

“A force on the lines of the NSG will be set up in Maharashtra,” Deshmukh said. “We will get permission to set up such a force from the Centre.”

“We have also postponed the Winter Assembly Session, which was to begin in Nagpur on Monday. It will now begin on December 11,” he added.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister R. R. Patil said preliminary investigations had revealed that the terrorists wanted to kill over 5,000 people in the attack.

“There were 10 terrorists in all. Nine were killed, while one has been captured alive. They had been continuously getting instructions from abroad via satellite phone.”

“The terrorists came from the sea route on Wednesday morning. They landed near Sassoon Docks in Colaba. From there, they took a taxi in which all their arms and ammunitions were loaded,” Patil said.

“Police have recovered two live bombs, each weighing eight kilograms from the dead terrorists. GPS equipment and sophisticated satellite phones were also recovered from them,” the Maharashtra Home Minister added. (ANI)

Captured terrorist says attackers were trained at Lashkar camps

Mumbai, Nov. 29 : The terrorists who attacked Mumbai over the last three days were trained in Lashkar-e-Toiba camps. This startling revelation has been made by the terrorist who was nabbed alive by the Mumbai Police.

According to a report in the Indian Express, Azam Ameer Qasab, a 21-year-old Pakistani national has admitted to being a Lashkar-e-Toiba operative.

Qasab a resident of Faridkot , admitted that he was trained, along with several others, at two separate camps in Pakistan. The first camp operated for close to three months and involved training in the use of firearms and explosives.

The second camp focused on marine drills which were used by the attackers to land on Mumbai''s coast. CDs with footage of different parts of Mumbai were also shown to them, in order to make them aware of every nook and corner of the area that they were to take under their siege.

Instructions of causing maximum casualties also were given to the terrorists, the Interrogation revealed.

Qasab explained how the terrorists hijacked a trawler with a crew of five. They forced, Amar Singh Nazam, one of the crew, to travel for some distance and then killed him. However, the names of other terrorists have not been revealed till now. ''We were assigned code names,'' revealed the terrorist who is in police custody. Officers of the D B Marg Police Station nabbed Qasab late on Wednesday night after they intercepted a Skoda car in which he was travelling with another attacker, Abu Dera Ismael Khan (25). Abu was gunned down in the encounter at Girgaum Chowpatty.

Qasab was later handed over to Mumbai''s Anti-Terrorism Squad.

Police also recovered two assault rifles, five magazines, two automatic pistols and a grenade from Qasam and Abu.

According to the Director General of Maharashtra (DGP), A N Roy, nine suspects are being interrogated. "Nine suspects are with us picked up from in and around the operational areas. Once we finish interrogating them, many facts will emerge. The whole story will unfold shortly," he said. (ANI)