Post-killings, govt doubles salaries of J&K SPOs who have served for 15 years

SRINAGAR: The Centre on Wednesday doubled the salary for special police officers (SPOs) in Jammu and Kashmir who have been serving the state for 15 years, a few days after seven such cops posted their resignations on social media following threats from Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists and the brutal killing of three SPOs.

The new monthly salary would be Rs 12,000 instead of the existing Rs 6,000, according to the home ministry’s order.

The order said that those serving as SPOs for less than five years would continue to draw Rs 6,000 while those who have completed more than five years would be eligible to draw Rs 9,000.


Hours after the announcement, J&K Police DGP Dilbagh Singh tweeted thanking governor Satya Pal Malik, Union home minister Rajnath Singh and K Vijay Kumar, advisor to the governor.

TOI had recently interviewed the slain cops’ family members, who had spoken about how SPOs were risking their lives for a paltry sum.