Delhi Police cracks down on Chinese manjha; registers 78 FIRs, arrests 79

New Delhi: As many as 79 people have been arrested here in the last 20 days for selling Chinese 'manjha' that has caused injuries as well as fatalities in the national capital.

The Delhi Police has registered 78 FIRs in this matter.

"There are strict directions from senior police officers to register FIR and arrest those who are involved in selling Chinese manjha (glass-coated synthetic strings used for flying kites). Such kite strings are completely banned and teams are working round the clock to arrest those who are involved in their distribution and stocking," a senior police officer said.

In one of the recent incidents, a seven-year-old girl died after her throat was allegedly slit by a stray Chinese manjha in west Delhi's Pashchim Vihar area when she was travelling on a motor bike being driven by her father on July 20, 2023.

So far, 21 people have been arrested and 23 FIRs have been registered in the west district, 14 FIRs have been registered with 14 arrests in the north east district while in Shahdara 11 FIRs have led to 14 arrests, the officer said.

Additionally, six FIRs in the outer district resulted in six arrests, six FIRs in central Delhi led to six arrests and four FIRs in Dwarka led to four arrests, the officer added.

Three FIRs led to as many arrests in northwest district, 10 FIRs leading to 10 arrests were made in the outer north, east, southeast, southwest and south districts. In the north, one FIR was registered with an arrest.

No FIR has been registered in Rohini and New Delhi.

The Chinese manjha was banned in Delhi in 2017, and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) also imposed a similar ban on nylon or synthetic threads used for kite flying.

These bans were put in place to prevent harm to humans, birds, other animals and the environment, the officer said.

"Only flying kites with cotton thread free from any materials is permitted," the officer said.

In February last year, Delhi High Court directed the city police's Crime Branch to investigate the manufacturing, sale, purchase and storage of Chinese synthetic manjha, in markets and shops of the national capital following many incidents related to the Chinese manjha in the capital.