Delhi Hardlook | ‘How is something that can kill people still sold?’: Deadly Chinese manjha back in Delhi — despite bans

But the milk is only part of the errand. The boy, his friends claim, is the contact in the area to get the infamous ‘Chinese manjha (kite string)’.

“Kam se kam 200 ka loge? (Will you buy at least Rs 200 worth of manjha?)” — he’s often heard asking prospective customers. Once assured the buyer is serious, the boy gestures for them to follow him inside the market.

En route is a shabby one-room kite shop, with children queuing up outside. But he passes by without a glance.

“Yahan kuch nai milega. Abhi (police) raid ka season hai. (You won’t find anything here. This is the season of raids),” he says, referring to a recent raid by the Delhi Police Crime Branch in Wazirabad on July 5.

After passing through a narrow alley, the boy reaches a small medical shop. He steps up and murmurs into the ear of an 18-year-old youth sitting at the counter.

“Rs 220 ek reel manjhe ke liye. Ek dum dhaardaar hai, Bareilly se laya hai mere chacha ka ladka. Bolo toh mangwaunga (Rs 220 for one reel of manja. It’s very sharp. My cousin got it from Bareilly. Say the word and I will bring it),” the boy at the counter says.

Despite being banned in Delhi, the sale of Chinese manjha continues. The string, made of nylon, is coated with crushed pieces of glass, giving it razor-sharp edges that easily cut through other kite strings in the air — but it is capable of doing far worse on the ground. In recent years, it has been linked to multiple deaths and injuries, particularly among two-wheeler riders whose necks get caught in stray strings hanging across roads.

This year, it has already led to the death of one person and injured another.

On June 27, Yash Goswami (22) died after his throat was slit by a Chinese manjha on Rani Jhansi flyover in North Delhi. The Karawal Nagar resident was on his way home at the time.

Chinese (small spool) and traditional ‘manjha’ being sold at kite shops at Lalkuan market in Old Delhi (Express/Oinam Anand)

“Goswami suffered a deep cut on his neck, causing him to collapse on the spot. He was rushed to the hospital by passersby, where he was declared dead on arrival,” a police officer had said.

In another incident on July 2, the string did not take the life of Axis Bank employee Prakash but slashed his face while he was passing by the Shastri Park flyover on his bike, police had said.

Crackdown

Chinese manjha, according to the police and shopkeepers, is primarily produced in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. It is called ‘Chinese’ not because of its origin, but because it is synthetic, unlike traditional Indian Manjha or ‘Sadda’, which are made from natural cotton threads.

In January 2017, the Delhi government moved a notification banning manjha made of nylon and plastic and ones made of cotton coated with glass or metal (popularly known as ‘Bareilly ka manjha’). In 2017, the National Green Tribunal had ordered a total ban on manjha made of nylon or any synthetic material.

Like every year, the Delhi Police has started its crackdown on the supply of Chinese manjha. With the kite-flying season approaching ahead of Independence Day, the Crime Branch has already seized over 1,200 rolls of the banned thread from three locations in the city.

The first seizure was done at Central Delhi’s Kamla Market on June 26. Running the illegal manjha operation here was Areeb Khan (22) a former textile store worker. “He had 248 rolls of banned string and was caught near Kamla Market. Areeb used to work at a clothing store but moved to kite-string selling for more profit,” DCP (Crime) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav had said.

The second operation happened in West Delhi’s Uttam Nagar on June 27. 2. Raju Chaurasia (51) was arrested in the case.

The third operation took place in Sangam Vihar, Wazirabad on July 5. The raid led to the arrest of Danish Khan (28) and the recovery of 56 rolls of manjha. He used to make kites but started selling manjha to earn more money, police had said.

In all, 1,226 rolls of Chinese manjha have been found, and police registered three FIRs against the people involved.

On Friday itself, brothers Samir (22) and Shakir (18) were arrested from a jhuggi cluster at Nand Nagri with 325 reels of the banned Chinese manjha. They allegedly told the police that they were stocking up for the Independence Day.

The hub

Kamla Market in Daryaganj, in the Lal Kuan area, is known as the hub for kite shops.

Sitting at his family’s kite shop is a 13-year-old bespectacled boy, handling customers as the adults have stepped out. Behind him, kites of all shapes and colours are pinned to the wall.

The news of Areeb’s arrest has spread like wildfire, with shopkeepers now vehemently denying ever possessing the Chinese Manjha.

“Chinese manjha ab nahi milta yaha. Jo bechte the unko bhi pakad liya police ne (Chinese manjha is not available here, the police have caught those who sold them),” says the boy.

Though suppliers are often caught in raids, arrests are rare in cases where deaths occur from stray manjha hanging in public spaces (Express/Tashi Tobgyal)

“Par uski takkar ka mil jaayega (But you can get something of the same quality at the main shop),” he adds.

He goes down a damp lane and, after about 250 m, enters a house with a green curtain serving as its entrance. Inside is a room with high-ceiling, with kites all around.

Sitting on the floor, on a ragged, torn maroon carpet, are two teenage boys and an elderly man clad in a white kurta pyjama — all sewing kites.

The man owns the kite shop.

The 13-year-old asks the man, who is holding a purple kite in his hand, for manjha. The man shouts, “Indian reel le aa ek (Bring a reel of cotton manjha).”

Hearing him, the other two boys, a couple of years older than their bespectacled peer, rush together inside a storeroom. They come out with a reel of thread.

“Cotton hai, par masala chadha hua hai. Wahi glass wala jo hota hai. (It’s a cotton thread, but it’s coated with glass),” says the man on being asked if the thread has the same sharpness as the ‘Chinese one’.

According to police officers, the ban applies both to the nylon thread and its deadly glass coating (Bareilly manjha). “The nylon threads are sometimes replaced by cotton ones at these shops. But they have options. You can buy a sadda (plain cotton reel) or the glass-coated one (glass-coated cotton reel),” an officer said.

‘Hard to make arrests’

Though suppliers are often caught in raids, arrests are rare in cases where deaths occur from stray manjha hanging in public spaces.

“It’s very difficult to nab someone in these cases. The thread gets cut once it tangles around someone on a road or in any public place. It’s difficult to trace the owner of one piece of thread found on a random flyover,” a police officer says.

No arrests have been made in the two cases from this year, police say.

On August 19 in 2023, Sandeep (40) was taking his seven-year-old daughter on an early morning drive on his black motorcycle to Bhaira Enclave in West Delhi’s Paschim Vihar. His daughter was sitting in front. He was about to take a turn when his daughter screamed.

“I quickly stopped and got her down — and saw the manjha wrapped around her neck. She was bleeding,” Sandeep had told police at that time.

The girl died on her way to the hospital. No one has been arrested till now, a senior police officer says.

In August 2019, Manav Sharma (28) had his throat slit by the manjha in Paschim Vihar of Outer Delhi. He was on the way home on a scooter with his sisters after celebrating Raksha Bandhan. No arrest was made in this case either, the officer adds.

Monika (26), the younger sister of Manav, was sitting behind him on the scooter, when his throat was slit.

“The scooter has been parked for the last six years in front of our building. No one in our family touched it,” Monika says.

The death of Manav, who was the sole breadwinner for a family of five – including his parents and his two sisters – devastated the family.

“We were returning after celebrating Raksha Bandhan. My cousins had come from Punjab. Manav was riding the scooter, and I and my sister were riding pillion. He suddenly stopped and we saw blood gushing from his throat,” Monika says.

Monika is now the sole breadwinner of the family of three – her father had died in 2023. “I work for a private firm… Since he (Manav) left us, I haven’t been able to ride a two-wheeler. Every year, I hear about manjhas causing deaths. I don’t know about the ban, but how come such a thing that can kill people this easily is still available in the market,” she asks.

As Independence Day nears, raids on manjha godowns are expected to be stepped up, senior police officers said. “Most suppliers get stock 48 hours before August 14, when the demand is at peak. They look to quickly sell and finish off the stock before they can be caught,” an officer added.