HYDERABAD: DGP M Malakondaiah on Tuesday submitted a report to the Hyderabad High Court furnishing details of public representatives who took part in cockfights held illegally during Sankranti this year.
As per the DGP’s report, Kakinada MP Thota Narasimham, Pithapuram MLA V Satyanarayana Varma, Mummidivaram MLA D Subbaraju, Pithapuram municipal chairman Karanam Chinna Rao, ZPTC member C Rajesh Kumar, Ungaturu MLA G Veeranjaneyulu, Polavaram MLA M Srinivasa Rao, Krishna district Penamaluru MLA B Prasad, Vijayawada (Central) MLA Bonda Umamaheshwar Rao, Vuyyuru MLC Yalamanchali Venkata Babu, MLC B Venkateswar Rao, Kankipadu ZPTC member G Sivarama Krishna, Penamaluru ZPTC member B Srinivasa Rao, Eedpugallu MPTC member Devineni Raja Rajeshwar Prasad, Vanukuru MPTC member K Murali, Godavarru sarpanch K Bhanu Prasad and Vijayawada IV division corporator Bhavana Kumar are among those who participated in the blood sport despite a High Court ban. A majority of the leaders in the dock belong to the TDP.
The division bench of Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice K Vijaya Lakshmi posted the matter for hearing on April 24 to allow petitioners to submit additional information. The bench was dealing with a PIL filed by K Ramachandra Raju from West Godavari complaining against unauthorised gaming, sale of liquor, prostitution and so on which were being carried out under the garb of cockfights at Vempa and Srirampuram of Bhimavaram mandal in the district during Sankranti. He sought directions to government authorities to implement provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and the AP Gaming Act, 1974 to prevent anti-social elements from organising cockfights.
On an earlier occasion, the bench granted two weeks’ time to the state government to collect footage from TV channels to identify public representatives who took party in cockfights.