The Hindu Business Line : Maharashtra to raise elite security unit

Mumbai, Nov. 29 The Maharashtra Government along with the Union Government has decided to raise one battalion of commandos similar to the elite National Security Guards for combating terrorism. The new unit would be called Maharashtra Security Guards.

The decision was taken at the State Cabinet meeting on Saturday.

Addressing the media after the meeting, the Chief Minister, Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, said the new unit would exclusively deal with terror attacks. A committee has already been setup which will look into the various long pending demands of the state police. Arms and equipment procurement would be done on a priority basis. They would be no bureaucratic delay in the procurement and if the need be the arms would be bought without a tender, he said.

Mr Deshmukh said that 162 persons had died and 239 injured in the attack. Bodies of 121 victims had been handed over to the families. Casualty figure of foreign nationals has increased to 18 with four succumbing to injuries. Accounting for the dead and injured still continues in the Taj Mahal Hotel.

For flushing out terrorist, 350 NSG personnel and 400 from Mumbai police were deployed, he said.

Mr Deshmukh said 10 terrorist were involved in the attack of which nine were killed by the forces and one terrorist had been arrested. There was no specific information from the intelligence agencies about the attack.

Hotels in the city had been issued alerts to enhance their security, he said.

Mr Deshmukh evaded questions on the nationality of the terrorists and said “no authentic information is available and investigation are underway”.

Contradicting the statement of Mr Deshmukh, the State Home Minster, Mr R R Pati said the arrested terrorist was a Pakistan citizen, Mohammed Azmal Kashif, and had come from Karachi.

“Given the number of arms and ammunition found at the hotels. Terrorists had plans to kill about 5,000 people. We have also found two large bombs weighing 8 kg each in the vicinity of the Taj Hotel” Mr Patil said.

The Maharashtra Government announced Rs 25 lakh for the family members of the policemen who were killed in the attacks. They will also receive salary of remaining service period of the killed policemen. A person from each of the family would be given a government job. Family members will also get a free house in the city of their choice based on the rank of the deceased policemen.

More Stories on : Security | Maharashtra | Terrorism

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