The persecutions did not end, however. In violation of the promise made by Beria to the arrested opposition leaders, mass arrests and executions continued. The political guidance of the anti-revolt operations was effected by the GPU chief in Georgia, Solomon Mogilevsky, and the repressions were largely supported by the Transcaucasian Central Committee. Stalin himself is quoted to have vowed that "all of Georgia must be plowed under". In a series of raids, the Red Army and Cheka detachments killed thousands of civilians, exterminating entire families including women and children. Mass executions took place in prisons, where people were killed without trial, including even those in prison at the time of the rebellion. Hundreds of arrested were shot directly in railway trunks, so that the dead bodies could be removed faster—a new and effective technical invention by the Cheka officer, Talakhadze. The exact number of casualties and the victims of the purges remains unknown. Approximately 3,000 died in fighting. The number of those who were executed during the uprising or in its immediate aftermath amounted to 7,000-10,000 or even more. According to the most recent accounts included also in The Black Book of Communism , 12,578 people were put to death from 29 August to 5 September 1924. About 20,000 people were deported to Siberia and Central Asian deserts.. Were more people put to death or deported to the Siberia and Central Asian deserts?