Trichy: Members of Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) created a flutter at the district collectorate when they arrived carrying a 27-foot-long petition demanding that restrictions imposed by the police on conduct of kabaddi matches and tournaments be lifted.The petition had the signature of around 500 youths who played the state's traditional sport. DYFI district secretary P Lenin said the origins of the contact sport could be traced back to about 4,000 years ago. "States like Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana also recognize kabaddi as their state sport. However, police have been imposing many restrictions on Trichiites citing law and order issues whenever we approach them for conducting tournaments", he alleged. A number of youths from Kondayampettai, Karumandapam in the city and villages in Anthanallur union, Musiri, Lalgudi taluks play the sport and conduct inter-village tournaments. However, in the last one year, permission was being denied for holding the sport, he alleged. "Whoever approaches the police is asked to get the approval of the high court. Last month we could conduct one such event at Inamkulathur only after getting the high court order", he added. He said the collector had asked them to come and meet him after five days.When contacted, a senior police official said there were instances of clashes occurring between kabaddi teams and even a small spark had turned violent leading to a clash between two villages. That was the reason they had restricted the sport to daytime, he said. "There is no restriction on conducting the sport between 6 am and 6 pm. We would not allow the sport late in the night", he added.

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