Cops clueless on source of Chinese kite string

Despite several seizures of deadly dragon string in the recent past, the police have so far failed to reach its source — the manufacturing units and storage facilities.

Around Lohri, the police administration had launched a drive against use of Chinese string and its illegal suppliers by using drones. Besides, awareness campaigns were launched to persuade the youth against using it. However, the drive lost its steam with the passage of time.

On January 9, a team of the Punjab Pollution Control Board had confiscated around 1,200 spools of Chinese string from a vehicle. Initial investigations had hinted that the banned string was being stored in Haryana from where it was being supplied to different parts of Punjab. It was also pointed out that it was procured by a Tarn Taran resident, identified as Nikhil. However, the suspect is still out of the police reach.

On December 23, the Cantonment police arrested two persons — Hem Raj of Malka Chowk in Jalandhar and Davinder Singh of Chitta Katra in the walled city — in connection with the seizure of 1,020 spools of synthetic kite string being transported in a mini truck (PB-08-EB-1479). It was transported from Jalandhar. Last month, the police seized over 1,000 spools after probing the backward links following information from the kite flying enthusiasts who had illegally procured the string.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Alam Vijay Singh said initial investigations had found that the banned string was supplied from Jalandhar. He said the police teams were still trying to find its origin and unearth the backward linkages of the ‘racket’.

The state government has banned the plastic kite string due to its harmful effects. It was dangerous not only for humans, but birds too fall prey to it. Being non-biodegradable, the string is not environmentally safe.

In October last year, Verka resident Haramritpal Singh lost his life after his throat was slit by dangling kite string. On January 13, a youth, Pawan Kumar, died in Ajnala for a similar reason.