Director-general of police (DGP) SS Virk hopes his force has learnt a lesson after the recent spate of attacks on policemen. “The Maharashtra police should be fully prepared to tackle any kind of surprise attacks by terrorists or Naxalites,” he said on Wednesday.
In recent years, 833 police personnel across the country have been killed on duty. Among these, 72 were from Maharashtra, Virk said.
The state police chief said his force is fully prepared to tackle Maoist attacks. Virk was speaking at the Commemoration Day parade to pay homage to those personnel of the Maharashtra police who were killed in the line of duty in the past year.
The parade, which was held at Naigaum police grounds in Central Mumbai, also saluted the bravery of the 17 policemen who lost their lives during the 26/11 terror attack.
Chief minister Ashok Chavan, Kavita Karkare, wife of slain anti-terrorism squad chief Hemant Karkare, Smita Salaskar, widow of encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar, and several senior police officers were among those present on the occasion.
