(Invisible) hands pull strings that kill: ‘Chinese kite string’ purely ‘Made in India’ but Punjab Police fails to crackdown on manufacturers

The crackdown on Chinese string has remained limited to just booking small-time shopkeepers who are found selling rolls of plastic string and making meager recoveries, shows an analysis of FIRs done by The Indian Express.

Incidentally, this “Chinese string”, which has been banned by the successive state governments during kite-flying season, is no more Made in China and is purely ‘Made in India’.

It was in November 2022 that Punjab environment minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer announced a blanket ban on sale of the Chinese string after a 12-year old boy died in Ropar. The string had cut through his neck while he was riding a cycle. Last week, 4-year old Jujhar Singh from Samrala received 120 stitches on his face after getting entangled in the string while watching kites.

A slit here, a cut there
In an another horrifying incident, the throat of a woman from Doraha was slit after getting entangled in the plastic kite string. In her complaint to Khanna Police, Shubhneet Kaur said that on January 15, she was returning from work on her two-wheeler when the plastic string attached to a kite slit her throat. She started bleeding profusely and seeing her serious condition, local doctors referred her to SPS Hospital Ludhiana.

An FIR was registered on her complaint under the sections 308 (Attempt to commit culpable homicide), 188, 427 of IPC against unidentified persons at Doraha police station.

Some of the recovered spools and rolls by Punjab Police (Photos: Sourced)

The Indian Express accessed some of the rolls confiscated by the police from violators, and an analysis shows that they belong to different brands — all of them manufactured in the country itself, and some without any description or company name. Some rolls were also packed with a warning on them that “they should not be used for kite flying” but were being sold ‘illegally’ as they are sharper and sturdier than normal ‘manjha’, said an officer.

For instance, majority of rolls confiscated by the police belong to the brand ‘Monokite’, which also has a ‘Made in India’ stamp on it, and the description says: ‘Monokite Magic Manjha, World’s Best Manjha for Fighter Kite’. It further adds ‘India’s best Manjha — made using German Technology’. Some rolls from this brand also have a WhatsApp number mentioned on them.

Another type of thread rolls confiscated by Ludhiana rural police is ‘Super Manjha’ which has ‘Super’ written on it English and Hindi but without any details of the manufacturer. Another confiscated set of rolls has ‘Welyn Mono’ written as brand name, again with a stamp of ‘Make in India’ but with a warning that ‘it is for industrial use only’.

Among other rolls confiscated by police are those with ‘Gold’ written on them but without any description of manufacturer and a warning saying ‘Not to be used for kite flying’. Another set of rolls manufactured by ‘JK Special Manjha’ from Bareilly of Uttar Pradesh and ‘Birds Season’ have also been confiscated by police but surprisingly without a single FIR or any action against its manufacturers.

Behind Punjab Police’s ailing crackdown on plastic kite string and its sale still going on unabated are several loopholes — the violators are being booked under cognizable offence sections and they secure bail on the spot; there is lack of uniformity on the sections being imposed; no FIR has been registered against any manufacturer or the back end suppliers of the deadly string; and in some cases violators are even being let off without FIR due to political pressure.

Legal loopholes
Speaking to The Indian Express, an investigating officer who confiscated 30 rolls from a shopkeeper said: “Although we had arrested him, he was released on bail within minutes and we could not question him even for a minute about the manufacturer from where he got the rolls. There was a call from a senior official to release him at the earliest as he had political approach.”

An analysis of the FIRs from Ludhiana district shows that from January 10 to January 17, which was the peak kite-flying season due to Lohri festival, a total of 38 FIRs were registered and 434 rolls of banned string were confiscated. However, not a single FIR had mention of any manufacturer or supplier of the string but only small shopkeepers who were selling the string were booked, arrested and released on bail.

Another confiscated set of rolls has ‘Welyn Mono’ written as brand name, again with a stamp of ‘Make in India’ but with a warning that ‘it is for industrial use only’(Photo: Sourced)

From January 10 to 17, Ludhiana city police registered only 8 FIRs and recovered 138 rolls. Ludhiana rural police registered 9 FIRs and recovered 110 rolls while Khanna Police registered 21 FIRs and recovered 186 rolls. However, in majority of these cases, there was meager recovery of 2 to 24 rolls only from each seller. Only in two cases, Ludhiana rural police managed maximum recovery of 50 and 31 rolls, respectively.

The analysis further shows that there was no uniformity among different police districts in imposition of sections in the FIRs. While Ludhiana city police has been booking offenders under section 188 (disobedience to the orders duly promulgated by public servant) and 336 (endangering human life) of IPC, along with section 51 of Wildlife Protection Act and 15 of Environment Protection Act, the Ludhiana rural and Khanna Police have been registering FIRs under section 188 of IPC only. However, with section 188 of IPC being cognizable, violators are released immediately by police on bail.

Homemade, yet Chinese
Jagraon DSP Satvinder Singh said that nearly a decade back, the plastic kite string used to be imported from China but in recent years, it is being manufactured within the country. “But since it originated from China, it is still popularly called China dor.”

Inspector Inderjit Singh, SHO Jagraon city, said, “Majority of rolls confiscated do not have details of manufacturers on them while some have brand names mentioned. We are trying to reach the manufacturers in due course of probe.”
Ludhiana police commissioner Mandeep Singh Sidhu said that not all manufacturers can be legally held accountable as they have clarified on the product that it was not meant for kite flying.

“The metallic, plastic string is also used in industries and for weaving cots. Many rolls have this warning written on them but it is being sold by kite shops illegally,” said Sidhu.

Khanna SP (investigation) Pragya Jain said that they were working to find the backend linkages and reach the suppliers of the banned kite string.

Police officials said that the only way they recognize the plastic string during raids is through touch.

“The raids are conducted on the basis of secret information. Unlike the normal glass coated string which easily breaks when pulled, this plastic string doesn’t break and instead cuts through the skin,” said a senior police official.