VISAKHAPATNAM: With the liquid cash crunch in ATMs and banks back to haunt the people during Sankranti festival in North Andhra districts and East Godavari, the organisers of cockfights and punters have taken the digital route for betting operations on cockfights. The organisers are getting ready to accept the bids with swiping machines and with the help of mobile-apps like Paytm.
Most of the ATMs have been running dry and No cash' boards have been placed at nearly all the ATMs. As there is no currency available, the organizers of the bloody sport have decided to mitigate the liquid cash flow and go for digital transactions. An organizer of cockfights on condition of anonymity said that cockfight is a traditional betting game during Sankranti.
“Though there is an official ban on cockfights in the state, we will conduct the cockfights by evading the police raids. Due to the shortage of liquid cash, most of the punters haven’t withdrawn money from banks and ATMs. Instead, we have decided to use mobile apps and other digital forms for exchange of money during the betting operations,” he added. Sources said that the punters are planning to invest between Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh on each cockfight in Vizag region. City police chief T. Yoganand and SP (Visakha Rural) Rahul Dev Sharma said that they have formed special teams to check the cockfighting and betting operations.
