Sankranti, the harvest festival, is all about homecoming and tradition. But along with the festivities comes a blood sport, which has become part of the tradition and festivities. It is rooster fight or ‘kodi pandem’ as called colloquially.
Though rooster fights are organised all through year and during other festivals also, it reaches its peak during the four-day Sankranti festival.
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Ancient sport
Though it might have gained media mileage, with the Supreme Court banning the sport with the use of knives tied to the legs of the roosters, historically it has been prevalent in the ancient times across various civilisations such as Indus, Chinese, Persian and ancient Greek.
When it comes to antiquity, Andhra Pradesh, then called the Andhra Desa, has its own slice of history.
Historians say that the harbinger for the battle of Palnadu or ‘Palnati yudham’ fought sometime between 1178 and 1182 AD between Nalagamaraju and his step brother Malidevaraju, was a rooster fight, which was organised by one Nagamma.
Modernity
But over the years, the sport has transformed from a mere blood sport to a high stake gambling platform.
It starts at least a day before ‘Bhogi’, the first day of the four-day festival, and goes at least a day beyond ‘Mukkanuma’, the last day.
While the major arenas are in the villages of East and West Godavari and Krishna district, of late Visakhapatnam also has taken it up seriously.
The arenas are decked and carry all the paraphernalia — from liquor counters to food stalls to DJ music — and the stakes run into crores of rupees in the four days, says an ACP rank officer in Visakhapatnam.
Last year, it was estimated that in Visakhapatnam city, where high stake gambling had just seeped in, the turnover was close to ₹40 crore. In East and West Godavari, where in every village an arena is set up, the turnover goes over a few hundred crores, adds the officer.
Hotspots
The rooster fights from rural areas have not moved into urban areas, and places like Gajuwaka and Arilova have become hotspots. And the worrying factor for the police is that they are being organised under the alleged patronage of a few lawmakers.
A senior police officer, on condition of anonymity, says, "At times, even if we want to take action, we are unable to do so, as there is pressure from higher ups to turn a blind eye."
While the game is held in the open at places such as Arilova, it is privately organised in some farm houses of affluent people.
Online betting
Though the police in the last two years have formed special teams to curb the practice, they are facing a challenge due to online betting.
"Most of the duels between the roosters and betting takes place in private farmhouses and the trend is to place bets through online SMSes and WhatsApp" says Mr. I. Chittibabu, ACP City Task Force.
Even if we locate the mobile location, the punters shift places from time to time and this makes our task more difficult, he adds.
To curb the blood sport, it is learnt that the police are contemplating enforcing Section 151 of Cr.P.C. at the hotspots. Under this Section, a police officer knowing of a design to commit any cognizable offence may arrest, without orders from a Magistrate and without a warrant, the person so designing, if it appeared to such officer that the commission of the offence could not be otherwise prevented.
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