KHAMMAM: The residents of villages close to the Andhra border are making a beeline to AP to take part in traditional cockfights organised on the occasion of Sankranti.
They are giving two hoots to the warnings issued by the police in both the states that those who take part in cockfighting and gambling are liable for action. In Telangana, a close watch is being kept on cockfights with the help of drones.
According to sources, betting running into crores of rupees on cockfights has been going on for the last three days. The activity is expected to continue for two more days. The people in AP consider Sankranti celebrations incomplete if the spice of cockfights is not thrown in.
D Raju, a resident of VR Puram in Andhra, said, “Sankranti is synonymous with cockfights. This tradition has been followed for generations.”
K Prudhvi, a software engineer from Aswaraopet near the AP border, said: “I work in Bangalore, but I never miss a chance to come here every year to watch and participate in cockfights.”
Datla Raju, a businessman from Bhadrachalam, was bristling with enthusiasm when he said: “We never miss cockfights, no matter what. This year, we are going to AP as there is a strict ban on cockfights in Telangana.”
K Nagarjuna, another local, observed that thousands of people from the erstwhile Khammam district were seen travelling to AP to take part in the events. Cockfights are being organised on a large scale in Sathupalli, Dammapeta, Mulakalapalli, Aswaraopet, Bhadrachalam, and Vemsoor mandals, close to AP border.
S Rama Krishna of Aswaraopet said that some villages in these mandals are wearing a deserted look as many left for AP to take part in cockfights.
Khammam CP Sunil Dutt said, “There is no way cockfights could be organised in Telangana”.