Although the police in Bihar are planning to appoint more Special Police Officers (SPOs) to help the security forces fight mainly the Maoists, these temporary appointees would no longer get any arms from the government after the Supreme Court banned the practice in Chhattisgarh earlier this month.
After DGP Neelmani said the SPOs in Bihar would not be armed, the state police are likely to face a difficult situation in finding people capable enough and willing to work as SPOs in the fight against the armed Maoists. Besides, the DGP’s statement also means that the police would have to take back the weapons it already gave to about 1,200 SPOs currently working in three of the Maoist-affected districts — Munger, Jamui and Banka. Two armed SPOs were among six villagers gunned down by the Maoists in Munger district on July 2. Their death had led the DGP disclose for the first time that SPOs were working for the state police and that the SPOs’ appointment began in Bihar in 2009 under the Security Related Expenditure Plan launched by the Union home ministry. Senior police officials said that the unarmed SPOs, being constantly in danger of attacks from armed Maoists, would be only as helpful as the ordinary police informer while combating the Maoists in the difficult hilly and forested terrains would now become tougher for the security forces. “Few men in the villages will also be ready to work as SPOs despite the lure of the monthly payment,” said a senior official.