13 held in Vadodara after 2 deaths due to kite strings

As part of the drive, surprise checks have been undertaken at shops and suspected locations raided. A total of 62 places were inspected and eight cases were booked. The city police have arrested 13 persons and seized Chinese kite strings worth Rs 1 lakh.”

ACP AM Saiyyed of the Vadodara control room also added that along with traders of Chinese strings, individuals found using the banned strings will also be booked.

The police action comes after CCTV videos of a man, who was killed after being allegedly entangled with Chinese kite strings, went viral. The video purportedly shows an incident that took place on January 3 in Sama area where the man on a motorcycle getting entangled in the kite string, resulting in his throat being slit. He succumbed on his way to the hospital. Police registered an accidental death case and launched a probe to find the person who used the kite string.

The Vadodara rural Special Operations Group (SOG) team also seized 420 reels of the banned Chinese strings worth Rs 1.26 crore and arrested one person in the case. Meanwhile, advocate Shailesh Amin of the Vishwamitri Bachao Andolan has written a letter to CP Shamsher Singh demanding that not only Chinese strings but all glass-coated strings should be banned to avert tragedies.

“….Not just Chinese strings but locally made strings that are coated with glass powder also can cause fatal accidents… Two innocent two-wheeler riders have already lost their lives. The strings do not just cause human casualty but also kill several birds… Police must act to ensure that none of the glass-coated strings, regardless of the make, should be sold in the market,” said Amin.