896 rolls of banned string seized, 2 held

PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 3

Acting on a tip-off, the Amritsar rural police on Monday nabbed two persons allegedly involved in the illegal sale of Chinese string. The police recovered as many as 896 rolls of the string from their possession.

They have been identified as Chanpreet Singh, alias Chan, and Satvir Singh, both residents of Sultanwind Road here. They were coming in a jeep when they were intercepted by Lopoke police.

Kapil Kaushal, SHO, Lopoke police station, said the accused were going towards Chogwan when they were stopped at a checkpoint.

They were booked under Sections 39, and 51 of the Wild Animal Safety Act, Section 15 of the Environment Act and Section 188 of the IPC for violation of Deputy Commissioner’s order.

This was the first such a big seizure of synthetic kite string by the police this year.

As the festival of Lohri is just round the corner, kite flying enthusiasts are using the banned string with impunity. One fails to understand that kite-fliers easily get the killer string from the market, but the district administration and police officials are unable nab the perpetrators involved in the illegal sale and purchase of the string.

“Once on the rooftop, you would find youngsters using the string without any fear of the law. People hardly bother about asking their children to desist from using the killer string that has killed birds and left people seriously injured in the past,” said Dr Rohan Mehra, an animal lover, who had launched an awareness campaign to dissuade people from using the string.

Today’s seizure points out that people involved in the illegal trade were supplying the string in rural areas also.

Deputy Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Khaira and Police Commissioner Dr Sukhchain Singh had issued a ban on the sale and purchase of the Chinese string.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Parminder Singh Bhandal said the parents should apprise their children of the ill-effects of using the string. We need people’s cooperation in nailing the perpetrators. He said they should inform the police about those selling the same so that we could take appropriate action against them.

Rakesh Kaushal, SSP, Amritsar Rural, said officials were asked to deal with the problem sternly and take strict action against the violators.

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