By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR:The closing ceremony of the “Bhubaneswar Inter-Slum Cricket League” , launched by the Bhubaneswar Urban District in collaboration with the Sports and Youth Affairs Department of the Government of Odisha and the Odisha Mining Corporation in 40 focus slums of Bhubaneswar, was held today with a grand ceremony at the Police Reserve Ground . Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police Commissioner Dr. S. Deb Dutt Singh , IPS , graced the closing ceremony as the chief guest and presented trophies to the winning team and awarded prizes to the players who performed well in the presence of Bhubaneswar DCP Shri Jagmohan Meena, IPS and other police officers.
Similarly, a total of 40 teams participated in the Inter Basti Cricket League Tournament that started on 21.12.2025. Among the teams that played in the tournament , Kedarpalli Basti Team under Capital Police Station and Raghunath Nagar Basti Team under Khandagiri Police Station advanced to the final stage through their excellent performance. There was a fierce competition in today’s final match played between both of them and Kedarpalli Basti Team was declared the winner by scoring 144 runs in 15 overs, while Raghunath Nagar Basti Team was declared the runner-up. Kedarpalli Basti Team’s player Sonu was adjudged the ” Man of the Match ” by scoring 34 runs in 18 balls. Raghunath Nagar Basti team player Lipu Sahu was adjudged the ” Man of the Series ” for his total of 123 runs and 7 wickets in 4 matches . Today’s final cricket match was officiated by Shekhawat Ali Khan, Umpire Havildar Shri Shukra Singh and Shri Tapas Kumar Behera .
It is worth mentioning that under the “Basti Ku Chal” campaign, Bhubaneswar Urban Police District has organized various competitive programs for the slum dwellers at various times and various developmental programs have also been taken up . Among them, cooking and food preparation training and beautician training to make women self-reliant , various sports to create a competitive attitude This includes various competitions and taking them to educational places like Bakula Library and Pathanisamanta Planetarium to develop their knowledge .
Similarly, the youth appointed as Police Friends have also been trained to be sensitive to public sentiments . The focus of this campaign is to reduce crime by getting closer to the slum dwellers through the efforts of the Focus Basti Mana Basti Mitra and Police Friends. Bhubaneswar Sahatharanchal Police is taking steps to reduce crime there . Efforts of such campaigns will continue in the future to make the youth, children and adolescents of the slums educated and self-reliant .
Similarly, for the past few days, complaints have been received in the concerned police stations of Capital Police Station , Badgarh Police Station , Maitri Bihar Police Station and Dhauli Police Station regarding vehicle theft, gold chain theft and loot. Based on these complaints, the concerned police stations investigated the cases and with the help of the Special Squad, they were able to arrest the theft accused and seize 12 bikes , 2 cars and an auto. Police Commissioner Dr. Debdutt Singh handed over some of the seized bikes to their owners. For the great success in the above theft case, Police Commissioner Mr. Singh presented a letter of appreciation to Special Squad ACP Mr. Himanshu Bhushan Swain and other police officers .
