With the festival of Sankranti round the corner on January 14, the Andhra Pradesh police would resort to drones to keep a check on cockfights. Cockfight is a banned but hugely popular game in Andhra Pradesh, especially in West Godavari, Krishna and East Godavari.

About 50-100 drones have been deployed for the purpose of surveillance to curb cockfights. These drones have been equipped with high-definition cameras that are capable of shooting at a range of up to 5kms.

While cockfights were banned by the Hyderabad High Court in 2016, the authorities have been largely ineffective in keeping a check on the "bloody" sport. It was as popular as ever during the past two years. The Hyderabad High Court had made it clear that district collectors, police superintendents and commissioners concerned shall be held personally responsible for lapses on their part to ensure the implementation of the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act, 1960 and the AP Gaming Act 1974, in case incidents of cockfights.

Last year, the Supreme Court had dismissed petitions against the high court's ban and asked the state government to implement the ban.

It is in this context that the authorities have stepped up their efforts to ban cockfights this year.

Cockfights become immensely popular especially during the annual Sankranti festival, which is on January 14 this year. Last year, it was reported that a whopping Rs 1,000 crore-worth bets were placed on cockfights in Andhra Pradesh.