Defiance: Three arrested in crackdown

Three people arrested and kites and string worth more than Rs100,000 seized.

Three people were arrested in Shahdara on Sunday, including the vice president of Kite Flying Association, and kites and string worth more than Rs100,000 seized.

Shahdara police identified those arrested as Muhammad Hafiz, the Kite Flying Association vice-president, Ghulam Nabi and Zohaib Yousaf. They said these were arrested during a raid at a warehouse in Faisal Park where large quantities of kites and string had been stored. Kite flying was reported on Sunday in many areas of the city despite a law banning it and the provincial government’s refusal to relax the ban for Basant. It was reported in Shahdara, Islampura, Shafiqabad, Ichhra, Qila Gujjar Singh, Misri Shah, Sanda, Shadbagh, Shalimar, Baghbanpura, Harbanspura, Old Anarkali, Lower Mall, Tibbi City, Samanabad, Millat Park, Allama Iqbal Town, Wahdat Colony, Batapur and Lytton Road areas. Some people accused the police of accepting bribes from violators in return for not taking action against them.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th, 2011.