The Maharashtra police department paid homage to policemen who laid down their lives in the line of duty.

The event to salute their bravery was held at the Police Memorial Grounds at the Centre for Police Research (CPR), Pashan, on Wednesday morning.

Lieutenant General Shiv Kumar Sharma, SMVSM (director and commandant) Armed Force Medical College (AFMC) Pune and Pune police commissioner Satyapal Singh, SPS Yadav, additional director general of Maharashtra CID and Sanjeev Singhal, additional commissioner of police, were present . The martyrs were paid respects with a commemoration parade and gun salute. The parade was commanded by Sangramsingh Nishandar, assistant commissioner of police, crime branch and K K Shinde, police inspector, Shivajinagar headquarters. Two platoons of the State Reserve Police force (SRPF), one platoon each of the rural police and railway police, two platoons of the city police and nine officers took part in the commemoration parade.

Speaking on the occasion, Anil Kumbhare, deputy commissioner of police, said, "A large number of the policemen have lost their lives while fighting the Naxalites in Gadcharoli and other areas. I was earlier posted in Gadcharoli and can tell you, policing is a tough job there. In fact, with the terror threat looming, policing has become more risky than in the past."

From September 1, 2007 to August 31, 2008, a total of 98 officers and 735 police men lost their lives while performing their duty. The names of all martyrs were read out by Rajendra Dahale, Deputy Commissioner of Police, cyber crime and anti narcotics department and Jalinder Supekar, deputy commissioner of police (zone 4).