Police martyrs football tournament begins in Kashmir

Srinagar, June 11 (UNI) The ninth Jammu and Kashmir Police Martyrs Football Tournament began with four matches being played here today.

As many as 32 top football teams from within and outside the state are participating in the 15-day championship being organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Police under the auspices of the Jammu and Kashmir Football Association.

The teams include Border Security Force (BSF) Jalandhar, Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Jammu and Kashmir Police, Haryana Police, CRPF Delhi, RCF Kapurthala, RPF, SSB Delhi, YMCA club and Safalo club.

Haryana Police, RCF Kapurthala and RPF will take part in the tournament for the first time.

While 26 participating teams are from the state, six are from outside.

The tournament was instituted by the Jammu and Kashmir Police in 1998 in memory of Inspector Mushtaq Ahmad Baba who laid down his life while defusing a car bomb at Srinagar. Since then the state police has been holding the tournament regularly.

The championship was renamed in 2004 as Jammu and Kashmir Police Martyrs Memorial Football Tournament to pay befitting tribute to more than 1200 police martyrs who made the supreme sacrifice for preserving the country's territorial integrity and protecting the life and property of the people.

Four matches would be played today at the Bakshi Stadium here.

Director General of Police (DGP) Gopal Sharma inaugurated the event.

In his address, Mr Sharma said such events help to recall the sacrifices made by the personnel while discharging their duty.

He said promotion of sports activity formed a part of efforts to present a friendly face of the police which had emerged a strong contender in various events held at the national level.

A two-minute silence was observed in memory of the martyrs on the occasion.

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