Excelsior Sports Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Dec 23: The 18th Police Martyrs Memorial Football tournament, organized by Jammu and Kashmir Police in collaboration with J&K Football Association was declared open at Bakshi Stadium by Director General of Police, Dilbag Singh as chief guest, here today.
ADGP Armed, SJM Gillani, ADGP Headquarters MK Sinha, ADGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar, DIG CKR Sujit Kumar, DIG Armed/ IR Kashmir Shahid Mehraj, SSP Srinagar Rakesh Balwal, AIGs of PHQ Kashmir based Commandants of JKAP/IRP Battalions, Chairman J&K Football Association Wasim Aslam, General Secretary JKFA B A Shah and many others were present during the event.
At the very outset two minutes silence was observed to pay homage to the J&K Police martyrs.
Speaking on the occasion, the DGP said that this championship is being organised in memory of those bravehearts of J&K Police who have sacrificed their lives in the line of duty for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, for the integrity and sovereignty of the nation.
“Martyrs never die, they are immortal”, the DGP said, adding that remembering the martyrdom of our personnel is important for the department as well as for the people and organizing different sports activities are aimed to pay our tributes to them. He said that J&K Police Parivar always stands with the families of martyrs and is running different welfare schemes for their assistance.
The DGP expressed his happiness on witnessing the enthusiasm and energy of the teams participating as well as of the large number of gathering which includes young children who have come from different areas to witness the football tournament despite the cold. He said that football is very famous in Kashmir and this game is witnessing an increase of its followers each passing year.
“I am overwhelmed to see that the number of participating teams in the championship has reached to 40”, he said, adding that participating teams are from different areas of J & K, which is an achievement in itself.
The DGP also distributed kits including 200 footballs on this occasion.
In his welcome address, the ADGP Armed J&K thanked the DGP for gracing the occasion and briefed about the fixtures and participation of teams in the tournament. He also thanked the players, spectators, media persons, and the people for making the event a success.
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