City police chief asks all stations to constitute teams and step up patrolling
If the police do not receive a last-minute nod from the government, staging cockfight during the coming Sankranti festival will be a difficult proposition for organisers and punters.
Based on a Supreme Court order, the High Court of Hyderabad had, in December 2016, issued a directive to ban cockfight and made the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police answerable if the sport was staged.
But this directive is only on paper: last year, a day before the beginning of the festival, an informal order was circulated and the enforcement officers were allegedly told to turn a blind eye to the blood sport.
Cockfight is organised in districts such as East and West Godavari, Guntur and Krishna, and the money at stake is huge. But in the past two years, Visakhapatnam has also joined the league to become a hotspot. Unlike in other places where cockfights are organised in rural areas, in Visakhapatnam it is organised behind a hillock in the Arilova area.
Counters set up
Makeshift arenas were constructed and the place was readied to accommodate over 10,000 people at a time. Punters set up counters, tokens were issued, roosters were brought in from various districts and, as per conservative estimates, the total amount of money that was bet exceeded Rs. 40 crore in just two days. “What can we do when we receive instructions from the highest offices to lie low?” asked a senior police officer.
It is learnt that the venue is being readied even this year, and the police on Monday raided the location and took 10 persons into custody. Hoping that the High Court directive would be followed in letter and spirit and that there will be no informal orders, the police is gearing up to tackle the issue.
Police Commissioner T. Yoganand has asked all police stations to form teams and increase patrolling.
This news has not been edited by Apni Kheti staff and has been published from different feeds.
Source: The Hindu
