Patna: Bihar opened its account on the first day of 36th All India Police Equestrian Championship and Mounted Police Duty Meet-2017 being held on the Veterinary College ground in Patna on Friday.

The Bihar police's Mounted Military Police (MMP) bagged gold in the show jumping open six bar competition on the first day of the event, which was inaugurated by Governor Satya Pal Malik. A total of 17 teams of the central police organisations and the state police are taking part in different competitions.

Inaugurating the championship, the governor highlighted the role of the mounted police in crowd control, especially during riots. Recalling such a riot in 1917 in Rohtas (then Shahabad), Malik said the horses were requisitioned from Bhojpur to bring the situation under control.

Subsequently in 1919, the mounted police was set up with its headquarters at Ara in Bhojpur.

"Now it has taken the shape of a separate battalion. The role of horses and their riders in wars right from the period of Ramayana to that of Mughals is significant," the governor said.

He added that it was because of the mounted force that Genghis Khan, the Mangol warrior, established his supremacy on one-third of the universe. "The role of horses and their riders is significant," he told people gathered on the ground to watch the show.