In the past month, the Punjab police have made 255 arrests of those allegedly indulged in the sales of banned "Chinese manjha" or synthetic kite strings.
After a series of unfortunate incidents during kite flying competitions, the state police are cracking down on the sale of banned 'Chinese manjha'. Made of nylon or synthetic thread, 'china dor' is coated with powdered glass and metal dust to make it sharper, said a shopkeeper dealing in kites. As it is sharper and more cost-effective than cotton strings, some kite enthusiasts prefer to buy it, ignoring the risks involved.
Detailing the actions taken in this one month against sellers trading in the banned "Chinese manjha", Inspector General of Police (Headquarters) Sukhchain Singh Gill said on Monday that police teams have recovered 11,364 "Chinese dor bundles (kite strings)" after registering 234 First Information Reports (FIRs) and arresting 255 people who indulged in selling this fatal kite flying string.
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Notably, a few days back, a four-year-old boy received more than 100 stitches on his face after 'China dor', as it is popularly known in Punjab, got entangled around his neck and caused deep cuts near Samrala, in Ludhiana district. It happened as the kid rolled down the window pane of the car he was traveling in and stuck his head out to see kites being flown. He had to be hospitalized in Ludhiana.
In another accident in Amritsar, a 28-year-old man suffered a deep cut around his neck because of a Chinese string and ended up getting 20 stitches. The kite string got entangled around his neck while he was on his way to a bank on a motorcycle.
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Meanwhile, the senior police officer said Punjab Police have arrested 241 drug smugglers/suppliers after registering 173 first information reports (FIRs) under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) act across the state in the last week. Inspector General of Police, Sukhchain Singh Gill told reporters here that police have also recovered 5-Kg heroin, 4.90-Kg opium, 5.92 quintals of poppy husk, and 1.95 Lakh tablets, capsules, injections/vials of pharma opioids besides recovering Rs 7.89 Lakh drug money from their possession.
Gill added that with 13 more Proclaimed Offenders (POs)or absconders in NDPS cases arrested in the last week, the total number of arrests reached 636 since the special drive to arrest POs/absconders was started on July 5, 2022.
(With PTI inputs)
