Cockfights being organised in the interior islands of coastal villages such as Vakadu and Kota are posing a challenge to the local headmen and officials because of lack of adequate resources to nab the organisers red-handed.
The illegal activity came to light a few days ago when nearly 20 persons from the residential colonies in the Sriharikota island were involved in a boat accident while returning home during evening hours after witnessing a cockfight.
Members of the local fishermen communities and employees of the industrial areas were found to be frequently visiting these islands for witnessing the cockfights. They were opting for such interior islands because it would be easy for them to escape whenever there was a police raid.
They were mostly good swimmers and it would be easy for them to escape into the nearby islands or colonies without getting caught.
Usually, these enthusiasts would go in groups of five to 10, take the cocks along with them, and organise the fights. Big bets are rarely involved as these fights are mostly organised as a sort of recreation for themselves.
“We have visited these interior places and interacted with the elders. They promised to provide timely information whenever such instances came to their notice,” said Vakadu CI U. Satyanarayana. The police visited the island located near Sripuram village, where the residents of Sriharikota workers’ colony organised a cockfight.
As they were a bit delayed in returning home, they were involved in an accident in the Vepanjerry canal near Pudirayadoruvu village. They tried to operate the boat on their own as the original driver had shut the operations by 7.30 p.m. as per the guidelines issued by the local police and fisheries officials for the safety of passengers and residents of the coastal colonies. Lack of immediate channels of active communication was cited as another reason for continuation of the cockfights in the islands.
To overcome this, the villagers had offered to keep in contact with the nearby police stations to provide information on the movements of strangers regularly.