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.

Mumbai, Nov. 29 : Australian citizen Garrick Harvison has spoken of his terrifying experience in the ordeal in Mumbai, which has claimed at least 183 lives. Two Australians are confirmed dead and another 37 are still missing, reports say.

In the days after the initial attacks, Harvison said he had been told that terrorists posing as hotel security were calling the rooms of Westerners, luring them out of their rooms to their deaths.

Harvison was speaking to a friend in Australia on his mobile phone when the room phone rang.

Mumbai, Nov 28 : Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R. R. Patil on Friday admitted laxity in coastal security in the state.

Patil said that the coastal security would be tightened in the wake of the atrocious attacks and another force on the lines of National Security Guard (NSG) would be formed.

New Delhi, Nov 26 : Hindu seers led by senior Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Pravin Togadia staged a silent protest in New Delhi on Wednesday, to show solidarity with Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, one of the accused in the Malegoan blasts case.

Earlier this month, Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in Maharashtra detained Thakur, Dayanand Pandey and Lietenant Colonel Purohit, all belonging to Hindu community, in connection with the Malegaon blasts case.

Togadia described the Malegaon probe as a conspiracy by the government to protect the extremists.

The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Maharastra has decided to invoke the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against all the 10 accused in the Malegaon blast, including Sadhvi Pragya Chandrapal Singh Thakur and Lt Col Srikant Prasad Purohit.

Under MCOCA, the ATS will get six months to file a charge sheet against the accused; it's 90 days under other laws.

ATS chief Hemant Karkare said that the investigations into Malegaon blast are on the verge of completion.

New Delhi, Nov 20 : The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCAE) on Thursday gave its approval to the implementation of the Comprehensive Powerloom Cluster Development Scheme at Bhiwandi (Maharashtra) and Erode (Tamil Nadu) as a Central Sector Plan Scheme.