Arun Kumar is the acting Superintendent of Police in Giridh district and has an air-conditioned chamber to himself. But he still has complaints. The office of the Accountant General, a state unit of the Comptroller and Auditor General, has withheld his salary. And Kumar is not the only police officer in Jharkhand to face this.

Of the total 22 districts in the state, 12 Naxal-affected districts are headed by “acting” SPs, all under the Jharkhand Police Service (JPS). However, none of them—including acting Ranchi SP (Rural) Richard Lakra, acting Lohardaga SP Subodh Prasad, acting Latedar SP R K Dhan, acting Palamau SP Udayan Singh and acting Garwah SP Mohammad Nehal—is an IPS officer.

According to Section 9 of the Indian Police Service Rules, the post of SP is a cadre post. A cadre post shall not be filled by a person who is not a cadre officer. And quoting this provision of law, the AG ordered the district treasuries on February 7 to hold back the salaries of all such officers.

“If the state deems it fit to allow them to serve as SPs and does not select a list of cadre officers, we are helpless,” said AG R K Verma.

The state has a sanctioned post of 110 IPS officers. Against this, eight IPS officers are on Central deputation and only 59 are posted in the state. “With a shortage of 43 IPS officers, we were compelled to post them in the districts,” said DGP J B Mahapatra.