KASARGOD: A cockfighting ring turned bloody not for the game roosters but for six bettors, who went for one another’s throat using the fighting gaffs of the birds — all for Rs 200. Kumbla station house officer P Pramod Kumar said the bettors were not inclined to press charges against one another but the police have charged all of them with an attempt to murder.
The accused were identified as Kiran, 29, of Bambrana in Kumbla and Gururaj, 23, Naveen,22, Dhiraj, 21, Charan, 23, and Praveen, 21, of Mayipady in Kasaragod. Inspector Pramod Kumar said all the accused were childhood friends and worked as daily wage labourers. Cockfighting is part of rituals during festivals of temples in Manjeshwar, Kumbla, Kasaragod, Adhur, Badiadka, and Vidyanagar police station limits, said police.
But in temples, the game is held on a small scale without tying razors to the fowls and without betting.
Outside the temple compounds, cockfighting is a big bloodsport, with lakhs of betting money riding on trained fowls, said police. “We don’t bust cockfighting rings in Kasaragod because it is a lot of effort with little result,” said an officer.
If a cockfighting ring is busted, police will have to seize the roosters and produce them before the court as evidence. On the first day of the hearing, the court auctions off the birds. “Often, the accused or their relatives bid for the birds and take them home for as little as Rs 500. We are left with reams of paperwork,” said the officer. To be sure, in the outside market, such trained birds are sold for up to Rs 25,000.
Sunday night, a cockfighting game was organised as Posadi Gumpe, a hill station 20km from Kumbla.
In the night, a fight broke out among the accused because they fell short of Rs 200, said the officers. Soon they pulled out the spurs and slashed at one other. They were drunk too, said the officer. “Yesterday night itself I went to the hospital to check their injuries. They were in a drunken stupor and abused me in colourful language,” Pramod Kumar said. The police returned and took their statement Monday evening.