600 kite flyers, sellers held during anti-Basant raids

197 sent to Adiala Jail, 200 released after court grants bail

RAWALPINDI:

The police arrested 600 kiteflyers and sellers on Thursday and Friday during an operation against the ‘Basant Night’ and the ‘Basant Mela’ in Rawalpindi and Chaklala - both cantonments of the Rawalpindi district. About 98,000 kite strings have been confiscated. Those arrested were fined Rs10,000 on the spot by Special Judicial Magistrates, while 197 accused were sent to Adiala Jail and a total of 200 bails were granted. In cases where the accused were found to be underage in their Form-B, the parents of the minors were fined instead.

The Special Judicial Magistrate warned kite-flying students that they would be sent to jail if caught flying kites again. Police in all Cantt police stations remained on the field for 72 hours during the Basant festivities. Arrests of kite-flyers continued from morning till half-past one in the night. Immediate bail was not granted to the people arrested by the police for kiteselling.

They have been sent to Adiala jail on judicial remand. Decisions were made on Saturday on the bail applications filed by them. The hearing of these petitions filed by over 100 kite-sellers have however, been adjourned till February 14 (Monday). Meanwhile, the kite-flyers who confessed to kite-flying and tendered an unconditional apology were released with a fine of Rs10,000. The court also ruled that the kites were indisputably in the possession of the accused, for which they were arrested The court added that kitesellers were also equal in the face of the law.

“Due to the ban currently in place, kiteselling is a crime. Therefore all the accused arrested on kite-selling charges have been sent to Adiala Jail on 14-day judicial remand,” it declared. There was a large crowd gathered at the courts of the magistrates when the cases of kite-flyers were presented. Relatives, friends and parents of the accused also reached the court. The accused were brought to the court in public and private vehicles.

Many kite-flyers were also brought in with ropes due to a shortage of handcuffs. In spite of these proceedings, the Kite Flying Association (KFA) has announced another Basant Mela in Rawalpindi on February 18. KFA Central Leader Haji Iqbal said that Basant Night would be held on February 17. “Basant Night will start after sunset and will end at one o'clock at night. On Friday, February 18, the next day, we have scheduled a Basant Mela - the preparations for which have also been completed,” he added. Simultaneously, the police have also started preparations for an extensive crackdown against the recently-announced Basant Mela in the city.

Strict orders have also been issued to the Station Head Officer (SHOs) of all police stations in the city to cordon off the Dolphin Force against kite-flyers from February 14 to February 18. Monitoring of online sales of kites and strings has also started.