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)