SHO suspended over kite string death

Chief minister pledges Rs500,000 to family of man killed.

LAHORE:

The Sabzazar police station house officer (SHO) has been suspended for negligence after a motorcyclist was killed by stray kite string.

Muhammad Asif, 24, a resident of Kot Lakhpat, bled to death on the road near Mandi Stop on Multan Road after the string left a deep gash in his throat on Wednesday. Asif was driving to the Social Security Hospital to deliver heart medication to his mother. He was the oldest child in the family and its sole bread winner through his job at a leather factory.

A first information report under Section 302 (deliberate murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code was registered at Sabzazar police station on the complaint of Asif’s uncle Muhammad Tariq.

Sabzazar SHO Inspector Ahmad Raza was suspended on Thursday after an inquiry conducted by Deputy Inspector General (Operations) Ghulam Mehmood Dogar and Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Shaukat Abbas found him guilty of negligence. However, the SHO insisted that the offence had not even occurred in his jurisdiction, as the kite was being flown from a location in Gulshan-i-Ravi police jurisdiction.

Asif was buried in Sherakot graveyard on Thursday. PML-N MPA Mehr Ishtiaq and MNA Mian Marghoob Ahmed attended the funeral while chief minister pledged to give the family of the deceased Rs500,000 in compensation.

Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ahmad Raza Tahir said in a press release on Thursday that cases under the Anti Terrorism Act would be registered against kite-flyers who endanger people’s lives by using dangerous string. He pointed out that kite-flying was completely banned. He said that DSPs would be held responsible for incidents of aerial firing and string and kite manufacturers in their areas. Lahore Police has registered 380 kite-flying cases and arrested 405 for violating the ban this year, he said.

The city police chief warned that any officer found to have been lax in enforcing the kite-flying ban would be proceeded against at the departmental level. He also instructed officers to take action against the use of fireworks.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11^th, 2011.