For the second time in a row, Bihar has been chosen to host the All India Police Athletics Championship, a mega national sports event for the men in uniform.
In a letter issued to Bihar director-general of police (DGP) Abhayanand on May 1, the secretary of the All India Police Sports Control Board, Manoj Yadava, said the Bihar police would host the 2012 championship.
Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh police were granted permission by the board for organising the event. Even the allotment of the event was mentioned in the sports calendar of the board, the apex body to allot the championship to any state police or the central police organisations in the country. No official reason has been stated for changing the venue for the championship but sources claimed the organisers were impressed with the arrangement made by the Bihar police during the same event last year.
The Bihar police would also host BN Mullik Memorial Football Championship 2012-13. Yadava’s letter stated that the Bihar police would host both the championships — BN Mullik Memorial Football Championship 2012-13 and 61st All India Police Athletics Championship-2012 slated for October 30 to November 8, 2012 and February 18 to 22, 2013, respectively.
“This has happened for the first time in the history of the board that any state police have been allotted two major sports event in a calendar year,” said a senior Bihar cadre IPS officer posted at the state headquarters.
However, the decision of the board has not gone down well with the UP police. Reacting to the board’s decision of shifting the venue of the event, Jag Mohan Yadav, the additional director-general of police (law and order), UP, told The Telegraph: “I have not gone through any such letter so far. If this is true, then this is not a good practice.”
He, however, hastened to add that it was the prerogative of the board to decide which state police or the central police organisation would be allotted the event. “It’s better to talk to the DGP A.C. Sharma for any further comment,” he said, adding that it would not be justified to make any official comment without going through the sports control board communiqué.
A policeman deputed at the official residence of the Uttar Pradesh DGP said: “Saheb is out of Lucknow.” Efforts to contact Sharma over the phone also proved futile. Sources said that Sharma was in Delhi for a meeting.
Abhayanand said it was a matter of pride for the state police, which have been asked to host the two major sports events. “Now it is a proven fact that the state police will not lag behind in organising any major sports event, be it national or international. We are prepared for that,” he added.
