Section 144 to stop flying of killer kites

Under Section 144, the assembly of five or more persons is banned and it would help police enforce the ban on the strings, which have led to the death of a youth and left several others with cuts during kite fights, popular throughout the year in Bareilly. The prohibitory orders will be in place for a week for now.

The Telegraph, Calcutta

Lucknow: The Bareilly administration in Uttar Pradesh has imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 to stop the flying of kites with abrasive and sharp strings, which have been banned to foil their further proliferation. Under Section 144, the assembly of five or more persons is banned and it would help police enforce the ban on the strings, which have led to the death of a youth and left several others with cuts during kite fights, popular throughout the year in Bareilly. The prohibitory orders will be in place for a week for now. While kite flying with normal cotton strings is still allowed, the use of Chinese manjha - plastic and powdered glass-coated strings - has been banned. Such manjhas are prepared locally too. Although such threads cut the strings of rival kites more easily, their use is dangerous as it has left many with deep cuts in their nose, face, throat and hands. On Thursday, the nose of Mohammad Mahim of Kazitola and the neck of Vimal Kant Tripathi of Subhasnagar came in contact with the sharp strings and suffered cuts when they were riding motorbikes on Shyamganj flyover. O.P. Verma, the sub-divisional magistrate of Bareilly city, said: "Prohibitory orders were issued keeping in mind the increasing number of accidents taking place every day. Section 144 was imposed on Thursday in the areas around Shyamganj flyover. But that was not enough and fresh orders were issued on Friday for the entire city." " Patangbaazi (kite fighting) has become a major law-and-order problem. More than a dozen people have suffered injuries. A student died last week near Quila over-bridge after a string got entangled around his throat. People in the city are angry over such incidents," Verma added.

1. Vikram Singh, the district magistrate of Bareilly who visited several areas of the city on Thursday and Friday to review the situation, said police patrolling had been ordered across Bareilly to prevent the assembly of kite fighters and the use of the dangerous strings.

According to a report prepared by Bareilly police, the local abrasive strings are sold under names such as Asmani Dhamaka (explosion in the sky), Blade-Dhar Manjha (blade-sharp string) RDX, AK-47 and Khooni Manjha (bloody string). The Chinese strings are called Mona Sky, Hero Fighter, Jumbo and Mono Bite. The names of the manufacturers of the local strings also sound catchy, for example Yasin Chhutka and Jakir Khargosh. Kamalkant Verma, the officer in charge of Quila police station, said: "We are trying to nab the manufacturers of these manjhas." Mohammad Inam, a kite seller, said: "The administration should prevent the supply of Chinese manjhas and the manufacture of local glass-coated strings. We don't know why they are not able to do this." Sources said the administration was avoiding direct action on the manjhamarket in Bareilly, 300km north of Lucknow, because the business is worth Rs 50 crore annually and more than 20,000 people are dependent on it. Rohit Singh Sajwan, the city superintendent of police, said: " We had conducted search operations for these manjhas but nothing was found. The operation will continue."