Hazardous sport: Five injured in kite-flying accidents

Police accused of using drive against kite flying to extort bribes.

FAISALABAD:

A stray kite string injured two children in the Mansoorabad area, and three kite-flyers fell from their rooftops in separate incidents on Monday.

Jahangir Masih, was riding a motorcycle with his sons, John, 5, and Joseph, 4, near Abdullah Pur under-pass at Canal Road when stray kite string got caught in the children’s necks.

They were taken to Allied Hospital where Dr Naseer Ahmad said “both have cuts to their faces and neck. Excessive bleeding has made their condition very serious. We are working hard to save their lives”.

In three separate incidents, seven-year-old Kaif, 10-year-old Abdullah and nine-year-old Usama also sustained injuries falling from the roofs of their houses while flying kites.

A police spokesman had said on Sunday that city police had seized more than 8,330 kites and arrested more than 90 people for flying and selling kites over 15 days.

Abdul Kareem, a resident of Mansoorabad, said “police have been making money through the so-called drive against kite flying in the district.”

He said that youths in various parts of the city were flying kites in broad day light and shopkeepers were selling kites and twine with impunity.

“When police take action, small shopkeepers are the target. The big fish are never caught, even though police know that a lot of kite flying materials are prepared at underground factories”, said another resident, Rafiq Ahmad.

City Police Officer (CPO) Haidar Ashraf told The Express Tribune, “I took notice of the incident in Mansoorabad and immediately suspended the Mansoorabad Station House Officer Qasim Zia”.

He said he had also issued orders to register a case and take strict action against each kite-flyer. “We realise that it’s a serious threat,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th, 2014.