Cop dies after synthetic manjha slits his throat in U.P.’s Shahjahanpur
Synthetic plastic manjha entangled around Shahrukh Hasan’s neck when he was rushing to his duty and passing through Aziz Nagar locality
A 30-year-old police constable in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur district died on Saturday morning after his neck was entangled by banned synthetic plastic manjha (string) used in kite flying leading to slitting of his throat, said senior police officials.
As per an eyewitness, the synthetic plastic manjha, commonly called Chinese manjha, entangled around Shahrukh Hasan’s neck when he was rushing to his duty and passing through Aziz Nagar locality under city Kotwali limits on his bike.
He said the bike was speeding and the constable was not wearing a helmet. So, his throat was badly slit before he could apply brakes.
City Kotwali inspector in-charge Rajeev Tomar said passers-by rushed him to Shahjahanpur medical college where he was declared brought dead. He said the constable was a resident of Amroha and his family had been informed of the incident.
“We are waiting for the family members’ complaint after which an FIR will be lodged against unidentified kite fliers and sellers of banned manjha,” Tomar added.
Merely 30 minutes after the incident, another biker Sumit Dixit also fell victim to a similar incident barely 200-metre from the previous spot when he was crossing the Garra river bridge under the same police station limits. Dixit’s life was, however, saved as he was wearing helmet.
Dixit said the kite string was so strong that it caused marks on his helmet, otherwise his neck would have been completely slit. On Tuesday, a 25-year-old man Vivek Sharma was killed when his throat was similarly slit when a kite string entangled in his neck while he was crossing over Lahartara bridge in Varanasi.
On August 8, 2023, the then MP from Bareilly’s Aonla Lok Sabha constituency, Dharmendra Kashyap had raised concern over life threat to human beings and animals by the banned manjha.
He had also written a letter to CM Yogi Adityanath demanding stern action against its manufacturers, sellers as well as purchasers to curb usage of these dangerous strings.
Bareilly region is known for manufacturing the manjha traditionally which is crafted through a relatively natural process. The former MP had mentioned in his letter that the use of banned synthetic plastic manjha also hit the earnings of traditional manjha (kite strings) manufacturers of Bareilly. Bareilly is known for over two centuries-old trade of traditional manjha manufacturing.
On July 11, 2017, the National Green Tribunal imposed a blanket ban on synthetic plastic manjha as it poses a threat to humans as well as animals after multiple reports of these fatal strings claiming lives across the country.
The tribunal had directed the state governments to prohibit the manufacturing, sale, storage and purchase of these life risking strings. The ban also included cotton manjha coated with glass, metal powder or are coated with synthetic non-biodegradable substances.
Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC) has faced disruptions in its operations more than a dozen times since its inception because of synthetic strings, which have metal coating or thin wires used in kites flying. These strings is a conductor of electricity due to metal use.
Many times, the Lucknow Metro has urged citizens not to fly kites near the metro corridor as kite-flying not only causes damage to metro services causing tripping of power supply but also threatens lives of kite fliers.
