MORE VALLEY SPOS SUBMIT RESIGNATIONS

FEAR FACTOR The families of the police officials, most of whom are posted in south Kashmir, are in a state of panic

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Yes, there were a couple of resignations but they are insignificant. The problem of resignations of SPOs is restricted to certain areas. VR SUBRAHMANYAM, chief secretary, J&K

SRINAGAR: Rafiqa Akthar has been working as a Jammu and Kashmir special police officer (SPO) for 15 years, but in a video posted on Facebook on Monday she announced that she had quit her job. A resident of Bongam village in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, Akhtar clarified that she had left her job without any pressure or fear.

In a couple more videos posted on social media, Shabir Ahmad Thokar and Irshad Ahmad Baba too announced their dissociation from the police. Thokar, a resident of Samnoo in south Kashmir, said he had decided to quit his job after eight years as an SPO.

In another video, Ahmad Baba of Daigam in Shopian, introduced himself as a police constable before adding, “From today, I am not associated with police as I have resigned from my job.”

Since the September 21 killings of three policemen, including two SPOs, in Kaparan and Batagund villages in south Kashmir’s Shopian district – a hotbed of militancy– dozens of videos have popped up on Facebook and WhatsApp announcing the resignations of policemen and SPOs.

In an audio message released on social media last week, Riyaz Naikoo, operational commander of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen militant group, had asked policemen and SPOs to resign or face the consequences. The Shopian killings happened days after Naikoo’s threat.

SPOs are not permanent employees of the police, but they wear uniforms and are sometimes used for anti-militancy operations. They draw a monthly salary of ₹5,000.

Amid the buzz about resignation videos appearing on social media after the September 21 killings, there have been counter-claims that these were just rumours circulated by militant sympathisers.

J&K director general of police Dilbagh Singh was quoted as having said as much to reporters soon after.

Habeel Iqbal, a lawyer at the district and sessions court, had tweeted: “No SPO has resigned. The poor SPO who used to stand at the gate of our court (in Shopian) has willingly absented himself from duty and is lying on social media about his resignation. Can see many policemen in the court complex taking affidavits regarding their resignation.”

However, over the past two days, social media groups associated with militants have posted pictures of at least three dozen SPOs and police officials whom they are pressuring to quit their jobs.

The families of the police officials, most of whom are posted in south Kashmir, are in a panic. As a security measure, policemen have been asked not to visit their families or villages in south Kashmir by the police stations concerned.

State chief secretary BVR Subrahmanyam admitted on Tuesday that SPOs had resigned but the numbers were negligible. “Yes, there were a couple of resignations but they are insignificant. The problem of resignations of SPOs is restricted to certain areas. It is concentrated in south Kashmir,” he told reporters.

Subrahmanyam said all SPOs have been instructed about their personal safety while the government is in process of enhancing their honorarium.

“We know that the honorarium of SPOs was enhanced from ₹3,000 to ₹6,000 per month some time ago. The honorarium will be hiked substantially, but I do not want to give out any figures as it will be decided by The State Administrative Council (headed by the Governor),” Subrahmanyam added.

Earlier reports suggested that the killings had triggered panic in the lower ranks of the police department.

The Home Ministry had said the reports have appeared in a section of media that some SPOs have resigned, but the state police has confirmed that these reports are “untrue and motivated”.