Kin of 26/11 heroes, cops felicitated

MUMBAI: Commissioner of police D Sivanandan said a memorial for the heroes of 26/11 would be unveiled exactly a year after the attacks. He also stated that the police force was fully prepared to maintain law and order during the coming spate of festivals. Sivanandan was speaking at an awards ceremony for the police force held at the Y B Chavan auditorium on Friday.
The Mahatma Gandhi Peace Awards were instituted by the State Minorities Commission in 2002.Every year, police personnel and civilians whose work is deemed to have promoted communal harmony, are felicitated by the commission. Friday's ceremony was one with a difference. Of the 27 people who were felicitated, 16 were the family members of 26/11 heroes. Other officers who received the peace award from labour minister Nawab Malik included joint commissioner (law and order) K L Prasad, additional commissioner (central region) Sadanand Date, DCP Vishwas Nangre-Patil, senior inspectors Shamsherkhan Pathan and Prakash George. Pune district magistrate Chandrakant Dalvi was also one of the awardees.
"While we are used to criticising the police, we need to remember that they work under extremely strenuous conditions and their good work needs to be appreciated,'' said Minorities Commission chairman Mohammed Siddiqui.