With Sankranti fervour catching up in the rural areas along the Chittoor-Tamil Nadu border in the eastern mandals of athe district, it has also brought frenzied activity in organising cockfights in forest locations, involving participants from Varadaiapalem and B.N. Kandriga in Chittoor district; Tada and Sullurupeta in Nellore district; and a number of villages in Tamil Nadu as far as Gummadipoondi.
On Sunday night, the police raided a forest location near Varadaiahpalem and reportedly arrested 25 participants, and seized ₹20,000 and six roosters and a few motorcycles, while many others escaped from the spot. This is the fourth such raid in the forest locations by the police in the last six months.
Varadaiahpalem Sub-Inspector Hari Prasad said the terrain of Varadaiahpalem mandal came in handy for cockfight organisers as it is predominantly a semi-forest zone, coupled with its proximity to the coastal villages of Nellore district, and Tamil Nadu border. The Tada-Chennai National Highway is just a few kilometres away.
The police officer said that in spite of surveillance, the organisers reach the forest locations, and hold cockfights with huge amounts at stake. The parties, carrying the roosters come to the fixed locations all the way from the border villages. “The punters are mostly farmers and farm workers. Interestingly, the organisers have an excellent network, luring the middle class people and youngsters as well to join the betting,” the official said.
With Sankranti around the corner, the cockfight organisers are in search of new locations, one after the other, in order to avoid detection by the police. “The organisers mostly fix the timings between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., as some of them who were caught informed us that they have an opinion that the police would be relaxed during these hours,” Mr. Prasad said.
In order to tackle the menace effectively, the Varadaiahpalem police have appealed to the local court to impose convictions, including a week-long sentence and hefty fines on the organisers of cockfights. “This could to some extent deter the organisers from continuing the illegal fights,” the official said.
