SPOs: Caught between uniform & bullet

RANCHI: "Sahab aap toh chale gaye, ab humara kya hoga humlogon ke upar khatra badh jayega (sir, you are leaving, but who will take care of us)?" Ranjit Lohra (name changed), a special police officer (SPO), had asked a senior IPS officer before he was killed by the Maoists.
Lohra had voiced his fear after the state witnessed a spate of IPS transfers.He was deputed in Bundu in the Tamar area to track wanted Maoist commander Kundan Pahan.
"Sahab agar abhi dhyan nahin diya gaya to woh fir se active ho jayega aur gaon walon pe aafat aa jayega aur hum sab mare jayenge (if you don’t pay attention now Pahan will kill all of us)," Lohra had said.
His concern was legitimate since a Supreme Court directive of July 5 had ordered less pay and disarming of SPOs.
Pahan and other SPOs were once part of the rebel brigade or one of the dreaded youths of the red belt but now they walk alongside security forces, with a towel wrapped around their face guiding policemen through difficult terrains. They risk their lives just like those men in uniform and spend nights in the camps of security forces but still they are paid just Rs 3,000. After the apex court’s directive even that amount seems to be a distant dream. Men like Lohara are often left at the mercy of fate. They are caught between the uniform and rebel bullets.
On July 25, Lohra, who worked for around one-and-a-half years for the Ranchi police, was killed by rebels under Khunti district on the Khunti-Chaibasa Road. Rebels had been tracking him for quite some time and killed him after they came to know that the police had relaxed his security.
Lohra, a former Maoist hailing from Arki, was working as SPO for both Ranchi and Khunti police. But he was recently allegedly abandoned by the police. Taking advantage of his alienation, the rebels killed him and even took away his weapons.
The SC directive has come as a dilemma for the police since these men are actively assisting anti-Maoist operations in different parts of the state. Jharkhand has over 3,000 SPOs, who have led several successful operations against the rebels. Around 50 per cent of them are unidentified and 50 per cent are not. Till 2008, Ranchi was one of the strongest rebel bases. But the Maoist threat was effectively curbed with the help of an army of these SPOs.
DGP GS Rath maintained that in Jharkhand, SPOs are not armed and directly involved in any anti-rebel operation or for intelligence gathering. "We have given them an opportunity to earn something," said Rath.
"Currently, the state has no such proposal for regular appointment of SPOs as in Chhattisgarh and Orissa in the wake of the SC order," said Rath.
Despite the claim of the DGP, the ground reality is different. SPOs are directly engaged in operations and even in intelligence gathering.
"The role of SPOs is important as they are local youths or former rebels, who are
well versed with the topography," said a police official.