Rooster fights and gambling were reported from interior areas of Anakapalli district and outskirts of Visakhapatnam city, with people betting money in the last few days.
The usually busy main roads in Visakhapatnam city wore a deserted look on Tuesday as most people went to their native villages to celebrate Sankranti. | Photo Credit: K.R. DEEPAK
Despite strict instructions and awareness programmes, many areas in Anakapalli district, especially those areas bordering Kakinada district, saw rooster fights, while many areas reported different games like gambling, and ‘gundata’.
Following instructions from Superintendent of Police K.V. Murali Krishna, the police teams conducted raids on various places and booked 101 cases in the last two days of Bhogi and Sankranti. In these two days, the police have booked 54 cases of rooster fights and arrested 151 persons. However, the bettings were very less, compared to the Godavari districts, as per the police. In these cases, the police have seized 133 roosters and ₹65,000 from the accused.
Apart from the rooster fights, the police teams have also booked 47 cases and arrested 215 people for gambling on January 14 and 15. The police have seized ₹2.74 lakh from them.
Cases were reported from Anakapalli (Rural), Rolugunta, Kothakota, Yelamanchali (rural), Narsipatnam (Rural), V.Madugula, S Rayavaram, K. Kotapadu and many other mandals.
In Visakhapatnam, most of the cases were related to gambling. In the last three days (January 13 to 15), the city police have booked 20 cases and arrested 124 people for gambling. Police have recovered around ₹2.50 lakh from them. These cases were booked at Gajuwaka, Pendurthi, Malkapuram, PM Palem, Padmanabham and several other areas.
Several people visited the Godavari and Kakinada districts to witness rooster fights in the last two days in the Sankranti.
Meanwhile, horse and bullock cart races which were organised in Anakapalli district, received good social media attention and received a large number of people from Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram districts.
The sale of chicken, mutton and liquor registered a steep hike on Tuesday, the day of ‘Kanuma’, in which people generally consume non-vegetarian delicacies.
Meat shops were seen occupied by people since early morning and made brisk business till the night. People were seen purchasing two to three kg of meat to host family lunch and dinners. Non-veg traders have made arrangements to meet the additional requirement. Liquor outlets were also seen with long queue lines from the morning and the authorities expect the similar rush on Wednesday on the occasion of ‘Mukkanugu’. The police have conducted drunken driving checks from the morning. Around 300 drunken driving cases were booked since January 13 in the city, while over 50 booked for consuming alcohol at open places.
Most of junctions were seen deserted due to holiday season.
Published - January 16, 2024 08:34 pm IST
