Police In Churu, Rajasthan Organise Their Own Kabaddi League To Raise Awareness Amongst The Community

In a novel attempt to involve youth and strengthen community liaison groups (CLGs), the Churu police organised a 'Police Kabaddi League' with teams representing 16 police stations in the district.

Team members were not only selected from hamlets and villages falling under respective police stations, they were also mentored by cops from these stations.

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Thousands of people gathered to cheer the teams at Police Lines, Churu, from Thursday, when the event began, to the finals held on Sunday.

Winning teams and best players in various categories were given cash rewards and other gifts such as sports kits.

The Churu police came up with the league to lure youth away from liquor as well as criminal gangs which operate in the area. The district is close to Haryana where illegal sale of liquor is rampant and youths are often recruited by various gangs.

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Rahul Barhat, superintendent of police, Churu, put the plan into action and organized the event with the help of his team and local people.

"We wanted to engage the youth in our police station areas through sports along with their families and people in the neighbourhood. So, we thought of organising this event. Team members were selected from hamlets, villages and tehsils, and 16 out of our 19 police stations were given the task of mentoring these teams with the help of local kabaddi coaches. After holding training camps, we started the event on a mega scale from Thursday. For the finals, we invited Devendra Jhajaria, the gold-winning Paralympian, to encourage the youth," Barhat said.

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The experiment sent a positive message to all levels of the society, strengthening policing activities and helping cops maintain law and order. "We will continue to engage these youths for various purposes like managing law and order, 'melas', religious processions and disaster situations, among others," he added.

The winners and best players will also be given free coaching for the police recruitment exam. "All those who prepare for armed services and police services exams will be given free coaching by us and professional trainers," he added

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Rashid Ali, an 18-year-old youth studying in secondary school at Aaspalsar Bada and the captain of the Bhanipura police station team which entered the finals of the event, said, "I am thankful to the police for giving me such a platform. It also gave me a chance to know them better."

"Many people supported us by arranging refreshments for teams and providing sports kits. Some even gave cash prizes to participants," said Kesar Singh, additional superintendent of police, Churu.