Threat of banned kite thread imminent, police seize 55 rolls

Amritsar, December 6

With the festival of Lohri being just a month away, the kite-flying season in the city has begun but so has the menace caused by the use of banned plastic kite thread. The administration has initiated efforts to impose a ban on plastic thread and one Prem Singh was arrested for having 55 rolls of the banned string.

Sale criminal offence

Selling plastic thread is a criminal offence & is banned by the district administration. Violators can be booked under Section 336 of the IPC. Also, causing threat to another person’s life is a serious offence and punishable by imprisonment. — Varinder Singh Khosa, dCP

Hundreds of accidents are reported every year from the city alone as people get deep and life threatening cuts on their exposed body parts if they accidently come in contact with a loose plastic thread hanging on electric poles or the trees.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Varinder Singh Khosa said “selling plastic thread is a criminal offence as it is banned by the district administration, and violators can be booked under Section 336 of the IPC.” He said that causing threat to another person’s life was a serious offence and punishable by imprisonment.

Timely action taken by the police against persons selling plastic thread will prove to be

a deterrent, but it is worrying that people have started procuring it without any concern for the safety of commuters.

Sharanjit Singh, a local resident said, “I came into contact with the plastic thread while riding a scooter thrice during the last Lohri season. Luckily, I did not receive any bodily harm each time, but the jackets I wore at the time were completely ripped. I fear, that had the thread come in contact with my face instead of my chest, I would not have survived the injuries.”

But not everybody is as lucky as Sharanjit. Many people have sustained serious injuries and even lost their lives after getting injured by the lethal thread. More than anybody else it is the duty of the parents to sensitise their children.