VIJAYAWADA: Vijayawada Police have booked 160 cases against organizers for staging illegal cockfights across the Commissionerate limits.Clearing the air about what constituted an offence in organizing cockfights during Sankranti, city police commissioner Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao said one cannot attach knives, known as ‘tari’, to the cock’s legs.He also made it clear that one cannot have it as a gambling event. “Apart from court judgments that allowed betting in a few games of skill in the past, gambling stands illegal in all forms of sport, including cockfighting,” said Tirumala Rao during a press conference on Sunday night.The city police have taken preventive measures and taken into custody over 250 persons, including organisers, participants and owners, who had committed the offence last Sankranti. Inter-departmental teams have been formed across the state between the revenue and police department to ensure that the court order was implemented. In Edupugallu village, where cockfights are quite prominent in the district, locals managed to take permission from the cops and local tahsildar office to hold the sport and gave an undertaking not to use knives, liquor or allow gambling. Similarly, areas like Gudivada, Avanigadda and Nuzvid are holding cockfights on a grand scale for three days. The illegal cockfights were held ‘discreetly’ in the Godavari districts, accompanied by large scale gambling. Police are fighting a losing battle in the two districts as people argued that it was a mandatory part of the harvest festival.According to the police, cockfights were taking place in Amalapuram , Mummidivaram, Pitapuram, Kirlampudi, U Kothapalli, Jaggampeta, Rajanagaram and Mandapeta on Monday.

Stay updated with all the Latest Vijayawada headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.