Kila Raipur games cancelled one again, for want of NOC

The Kila Raipur games, also known as Rural Olympics, were cancelled yet again at the eleventh hour on Monday for non-issuance of no-objection certificate (NOC) by

The Kila Raipur games, also known as Rural Olympics, were cancelled yet again at the eleventh hour on Monday for non-issuance of no-objection certificate (NOC) by the authorities concerned, raising questions whether it is end of the road for the 87-year-old sporting tradition.

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Also, it emerged as how the tussle between two bodies over the possession of land and issues over organising the games has been playing a spoilsport. Since it was announced that the games will kick off on Monday, the visitors and participants were left disappointed.

The games were held last in 2018.

Even as the games are organised by the Kila Raipur Sports Society (Patti Sohaviya), the members of another association Kila Raipur Sports and Social Welfare Club (Patti Sohaviya) lodged a complaint against the former, asking the district authorities to stop the event.

Interestingly, while the Kila Raipur Sports Society (Patti Sohaviya) is led by Colonel (retd) Surinder Singh Grewal, the other body is headed by his brother Tarlochan Singh Grewal.

Both the parties do not want their rival body to organise games due to a tussle over the possession of land. A local court had decided the land possession in the favour of ‘Patti Sohaviya’.

The games were organised under the banner of the Grewal Sports Association since 1933 and it was in 1997 that the dispute over the possession of land began.

Col Surinder said the seven acres of land that belongs to Patti Suhavia was fraudulently mutated in the name of the Grewal Sports Association in 1985. “I was in service when all this happened. I came to know about the fraud in 1997 and I filed a suit in a Ludhiana court,” he said.

In February last year, the court decided in favour of Patti Sohaviya, Grewal added.

Later while execution of the order 22 members of Patti Sohaviya had signed and got the possession.

All those 22 persons are member of Kila Raipur Sports Society (Patti Sohaviya). “But my brother Tarlochan who had left us had formed another association in collaboration with the members of the Grewal Sports Association. Now, they are using political influence to put pressure on district administration and the police for not allowing us to conduct the game,” he said while adding last year also the games were not conducted due to same reasons.

He said despite applying for no-objection certificate, the police and administration did not issue the same.

Tarlochan said his brother had got the association registered by using forged documents to get the possession of land.

Sadar police station in-charge inspector Jagdev Singh said the games were being conducted without getting the required NOC. “This is why the organisers were stopped from holding games,” he said.