By IANS,
Raipur: The Chhattisgarh government announced Tuesday that it would provide houses free of cost to dependents of special police officers (SPOs) martyred in Maoist violence.
“The state government has decided to provide houses to dependents of the SPOs who laid down their lives while fighting Maoist militants in the state,” said Food Minister Punnulal Mohile of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.
The state is said to be one of the worst hit by Left-wing violence.
Officials here at police headquarters say that Chhattisgarh has about 4,500 SPOs and they are not part of the regular police service.
The SPOs, mostly employed in the state’s mineral-rich restive Bastar region, play a major role in guiding police and paramilitary troopers in counter-insurgency operations because of their familiarity with the local jungle terrain.