Chennai police bans 'manja' for 60 days after 5-year-old child dies from kite thread cuts

Chennai: In the wake of death of a child who suffered cuts from kite thread ‘manja’, Chennai Police has banned it for 60 days in the city, besides arresting 175 persons for allegedly using it for flying kites. City Police Commissioner S George has prohibited manufacture, storage and sale of the thread and the ban would be extended if required. Police has warned those flying kites with ‘manja’ will be held for culpable homicide not amounting to murder if it caused death of any individual. [caption id=“attachment_2460680” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A youth holds special kite-reels wound with ‘manja — kite-flying thread prepared by coating a cotton thread with a mix of glue and ground glass. AFP[/caption] ‘Manja’ is a kite string made of glass and copper pieces besides other materials and is used by avid kite fliers to cut each other’s kite during sporting duel. Casualties due to ‘manja’ thread had been reported in the past too, especially after it got entangled around the victim’s neck in many cases. The crackdown comes close on the heels of the death of a five-year-old boy whose neck was slashed by the thread while he was travelling with his father on a two-wheeler in the city. Four persons had been arrested in this connection, including two for flying the kite using such a thread. ‘Manja’ is already banned in states like Maharashtra and Gujarat, police said. According to a police statement, on the directions of the Commissioner, 17 special teams have been formed and they have filed 173 cases and arrested 175 persons for flying kites wih ‘manja’. Various material used in the making of ‘manja’, including powdered glass and magnets, have been recovered from them, it said. Police has also launched an awareness campaign to advise people against using ‘manja’ thread as four persons had died in the last three years after suffering injuries from it. PTI