Jammu, Nov. 13 -- Despite handling frontline counter-insurgency operations, routine law-and-order duties, and even serving as orderlies at senior officers' residences, special police officers (SPOs) in Jammu and Kashmir take home a meagre monthly honorarium ranging from Rs.6,000 to Rs.18,000.

The killing of two missing SPOs-Rashpal Kumar, 45, and Babbi Chand, 57-in the upper reaches of Dachhan has once again brought the precarious working conditions of these auxiliary personnel into focus.

Shashi Kumar, a village defence committee (VDC) SPO, says recruitment standards have tightened considerably over the past decade. "When militancy was at its peak, there were no hard-and-fast rules; anyone willing to fight could join as an SPO. Proper ...