B N Mullik Memorial All India Police Football championship starts in Srinagar

Srinagar: The 71st B N Mullik Memorial All India Police Football Championship was declared open at Bakshi Stadium, Srinagar on Sunday jointly by Director General of Police, J&K Dilbag Singh and Director IB, New Delhi Tapan Kumar Deka.

42 teams from across the country including 8 women teams are participating in the tournament.

Addressing the function, director IB Tapan Kumar Deka said that it is indeed a matter of great privilege for him to witness the opening ceremony of the championship, for which he expressed his gratitude to DGP J&K and the Organising Committee for the opportunity.
He said that All India Police Sports Control Board organises 40 events in 18 clusters across the country in a year in which 13000 Policemen sportspersons participate.
He said it is a matter of great satisfaction that popularity and participation of these events has witnessed an exponential increase and has provided a platform to excel the performances due to which many Policemen now have won medals at National and International levels.
Paying tribute to B N Mullik, he said he was a great dynamic leader and a visionary.
Tapan Kumar congratulated J&K Police for conducting the event in a befitting manner.
He said that J&K Police has remained on the forefront in protecting the sovereignty and integrity of the country.
He said that this platform provides opportunities to different forces to interact, to share experiences and to strengthen personal as well as professional bonding.
He advised participants to play the game with sportsman spirit and wished them good luck.
DGP J&K, thanked Director IB for gracing the event and said that his presence in the opening ceremony has been a very encouraging factor for the participants.
He said that Jammu and Kashmir Police has so far organised 14 events of this stature and this is the third occasion that All India Football Championship is being hosted by JK Police and before this, J&K Police has also hosted its 49th and 66th editions.
DGP said that JK Police has organised events in almost every sports category including hockey, water sports, golf etc.
While welcoming all the participating teams of the event, DGP said that besides fighting for the title, this is a great opportunity for the players to see and enjoy the nature and culture of this beautiful valley.
Underling the similarities of football and good policing, DGP said that power, discipline and control is common and important for both to achieve the desired results.
He said that J&K is progressing towards peace and prosperity adding that youth of JK has rejected the path of “goli and grenade” and are overwhelmingly participating in positive activities like sports and other cultural activities.
He was, however, quick in cautioning the youth about the conspiracy of anti-peace elements and appealed them to remain beware of these conspirators whose only motto is to disturb peace in this beautiful valley.
Commandant General HG/CD/SDRF J&K, Dr. B. Srinivas, Spl DG CID J&K, R. R. Swain, Spl DG Crime J&K, A. K. Choudhary, MD Police Housing/DG Prison Deepak Kumar, ADsGP SJM Gillani, Dr SD Singh Jamwal, Mukesh Singh, M.K Sinha, Sunil Kumar and Vijay Kumar, also graced the occasion.
UNI