540 cases lodged, 1,494 detained: Cockfights in Andhra continue unabated, crores change hands

1,494 taken into custody in Krishna district; bets worth Rs 120 crore placed in East Godavari;  20 injured as punters, organisers clash in West Godavari.
Cockfights organized on the occassion of Sankranti festival at Madepalli village of Eluru rural mandal in West godavari district on Thursday. (Photo | EPS)
Cockfights organized on the occassion of Sankranti festival at Madepalli village of Eluru rural mandal in West godavari district on Thursday. (Photo | EPS)

VIJAYAWADA/KAKINADA/ELURU: A total of 540 cases (till 6 pm) were filed against organisers for illegally conducting cockfights during the three-day Sankranti festival in Krishna district. 

As part of the raids, the police took 1,494 persons into custody for participating in the banned sport and recovered Rs 15.42 lakh cash from them.

On Wednesday and Thursday, cockfights were organised on a massive scale in many parts of Krishna and the twin Godavari districts.

In Krishna district, special teams appointed by Superintendent of Police (SP) M Ravindranath Babu conducted raids at Gannavaram, Nuzvid, Musunuru, Kankipadu, Gudivada, G Konduru and Mylavaram mandals where crores of rupees allegedly changed hands.

In Vijayawada police commissioner limits, 543 cases were filed against old offenders, 104 persons and 62 roosters taken into custody and Rs 1.17 lakh cash and 103 knives recovered from them. 

As many as 87 persons were taken into custody for gambling, 13 cases were filed and Rs 4.46 lakh was recovered from them. 

Meanwhile, in East Godavari district, several places turned into cockfighting arenas. Both the Supreme Court as well as High Court have banned cockfights. However, the police failed to implement the ban. Consequently, cockfights and gambling continued unabated and lakhs of people participated. 

At one place, the cockfight organisers allegedly paid the police station concerned Rs 50,000 as bribe.

Hence, they did not try to stop the practice. Cockfight organisers in the district earn crores of rupees during the three-day festival.

For the matches, roosters are specially trained for two months prior to the festival. This year, the organisers earned Rs 120 crore as opposed to last year’s Rs 100 crore.

In Kakinada, the fights were held at a mere distance of 1 km from the district police officer. The involvement of local political leaders is also being suspected.

Fights were reportedly organised at Kakinada rural, Amalapuram, Mummidivaram, Pitapuram, U Kothapalli, Jaggampete, Rajamahendravaram rural, Rajanagaram, and Mandapeta. 

In West Godavari district, cockfights were held despite a repeated warning by the police not to do so. For the first time, 20 persons were injured in clashes between organisers and punters. The Sub-Inspector of Guntada was confined in a room by an organiser at Nowduru in Veeravasaram Mandal. 

MP K Raghurama Krishnam Raju inaugurated the fights at Kalla village. According to reports, `100 crore was on a stake in the sport in the past three days.

Two groups of cockfight organisers clashed at Chintapalli village and one person from Telangana suffered a head injury. Another suffered fractures.

Telangana minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav watched cockfights at I Bhimavaram in Akividu Mandal while YSRC MLA K Nageswara Rao and former MLA Arimilli Radha Krishna witnessed gambling at Mandapaka village in Tanuku.

Cockfight claims punter’s life

ELURU: A punter lost his life when a knife attached to a rooster’s legs pierced his abdomen at Pragadavaram village in Chintalpudi mandal on Wednesday. According to police, at Pragadavaram cockfights were held after tying knives to the roosters’ legs.

An organiser held a rooster in his hands and was waiting to release it in the arena for the match. Suddenly, it fluttered in a bid to escape and pierced the abdomen of a punter named Saripalli Venkateswara Rao (55) who stood nearby.

He was injured and was shifted to the hospital in Chintalapudi, where he was declared brought dead. Police filed a case and investigation is underway

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