Police martyrs soccer tourney in Kashmir from Aug 20

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Srinagar, Aug 18: Altogether 34 teams, including several from outside the state, will participate in the 10th All Jammu and Kashmir police martyrs memorial football tournament being held here from Monday.

The fortnight-long tournament is being hosted by the Jammu and Kashmir police under the auspices of Jammu and Kashmir Football Association (JKFA), in memory of those police personnel who laid down their lives in counter insurgency operations in the state.

Thirty-four teams of different clubs of the country will participate in the tournament, Director General of police Kuldeep Khuda told a press conference here today.

He said the tournament was instituted in 1998 in memory of late Inspector Mushtaq Ahmed Baba, then Station House Officer (SHO) Kothibagh, who sacrificed his life on October 31, 1997 while defusing a car bomb at Regal Chowk.

The tournament was renamed in 2004 as All Jammu and Kashmir Police martyrs memorial football tournament to pay tribute to more than 1300 martyrs of Jammu and Kashmir Police who have made supreme sacrifice during last 18 years.

He said 869 officers and jawans and 443 Special Police Officers (SPOs) of state police were killed in the state during different militancy related incidents since eruption of militancy in 1989.

He said the tournament will be played on knock-out basis.

Teams from Railway Protection Force (RPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Rail Coach Factory Kapurthala (RCF) besides other teams from outside and within the state will fight for the trophy.

BSF, fighting to make a hattrick this time as they have won the trophy in 2005 and 2006, CRPF winner of 2003, Jammu and Kashmir Bank and State Road Transport Corporation have been directly put in quarter finals.

Jammu and Kashmir police winner of 1998,1999 and 2000 and Rail Coach Factory have been put in pre-quarter finals.

UNI