Panaji, Aug 14 (IANS): The Goa government has formed a house committee to explore ways and means to legalise bullfighting in the ambit of the exiting laws related to animal cruelty laws, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has said.

Parsekar, who was speaking during the ongoing monsoon session of the Goa legislative assembly, said farmers raise bulls for work in the fields and that they also used to engage them in dhirio, a typical Goan bullfight, where two bulls or buffaloes lock horns in battle.

But the existing animal laws he said had rendered the traditional sport illegal, he said.

"In Goa, many want to see if the prevailing laws can be researched and studied by us as lawmakers and examine if dhirio can be accommodated," Parsekar said.

"I will form a committee headed by Vishnu Wagh (pro-dhirio BJP legislator) and they should assess, study the possibility of bullfights and buffalo fights by strictly adhering to existing laws," Parsekar said.

Once a popular post harvest sport, dhirio was banned in Goa two decades ago following directions of the Bombay High Court bench in Panaji.