Guwahati, Aug. 9: A group of special police officers (SPOs), under the banner of Assam Special Police Officers Welfare Society, staged a protest at Dighalipukhuri today against their dismissal and demanded appointment in the new third Assam Industrial Security Force (AISF) battalion.

The group of 130 SPOs are part of the 650 personnel of the home guards organisation, hailing from the districts of Sonitpur, Nagaon, Goalpara, Lakhimpur, Darrang, Udalguri, Bongaigaon, Morigaon and Dhemaji, who were appointed by the state government as SPOs in the wake of the communal riots in the Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD) in 2012 and posted in Kokrajhar district.

When the situation started returning to normal, the SPOs were laid off in small groups, the organisation said.

On June 15, 2016, 130 SPOs were dismissed from service without any prior notice. The SPOs also alleged non-payment of last three months' salary prior to their dismissal. The next day, the Society had launched an agitation at Guwahati railway station.

Senior officials of the state railway police and Assam police had assured them of job regularisation. After the assurance, the SPOs had held discussions with forest minister Pramila Rani Brahma and finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and written to chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

The SPOs have threatened to launch a rickshaw rally to Delhi to meet the Prime Minister if they do not get any response from the state government soon.

Another group of around 900 SPOs, recruited in 2008, have been assured of posting in the AISF within this month, following a series of protests.