11 killed overnight in Sao Paulo

At least 11 people died in Brazil's Sao Paulo state overnight Thursday into Friday, as the region reels from an alarming rise in the homicide rate, a news report said. The fatalities included a policeman shot by assailants attempting to steal his motorcycle in a town outside Sao Paulo, the crowded metropolis that is South America's largest city, according to G1, a website of the Globo television network. Police have not ruled out however that the officer was simply executed, Globo reported. So far this year, nearly 100 police have been killed in Sao Paulo, Brazil's most populist state. Others who died overnight included an 18-year-old man shot while leaving his brother's home, and another shot in a bar. President Dilma Rousseff called Sao Paulo state's governor Geraldo Alckmin Thursday to discuss plans to fight the rising crime rate. On Monday, about 600 police officers were dispatched on the newly launched "Operation Saturation" in the favela of Paraisopolis and the surrounding area, in an effort to stem violent crime by displaying an overwhelming show of force. Police said that so far, 25 people have been arrested, and sizeable caches of drugs and weapons seized. Alckmin said that beginning next week, members of his government would hold additional meetings to try "to establish a good working relationship in every possible neighborhood" as he expands the program. "I am certain that the people will see the benefits very quickly," he said in a statement.