Rawalpindi - Following the instructions of City Police Officer (CPO) Israr Ahmed Khan Abbasi, Pirwadhai police on Friday raided a godown and seized more than 250,000 kites and thousands of chemical twines.

In a bid to create awareness among people about disadvantages and dangers of kite flying, Cannt police under supervision of DSP Raja Taifoor and members of civil society arranged a walk in Saddar.

Special announcements were made in mosques during Friday prayers while cautioning citizens and dealers not to fly or sale kites or else legal action will be taken against them.

The godown was located along with bank of Nullah Leh near Muslim Park and is owned by a kite-string dealer Sheikh Nadim, who managed to escape the arrest.

Police shifted the seized kites and twines to police station in a truck and registered a case against the dealer.

According to details, a team of Police Station (PS) Pirwadhai headed by Station House Officer (SHO) Mustafa Kamal Niazi, on a tip off, carried out a raid on a godown and seized more than 2,50,000 kites and thousands of chemical coated strings.

However, the godown owner Sheikh Nadim managed to escape from the scene. “Yes, we have raided a secret godown where the owner Sheikh Nadim has hidden kites and twines. He uses to sale these kites in Bhabra Bazaar,” said SHO Mustafa Kamal while talking to The Nation. He said though the dealer fled but police would arrest him soon.

“We have shifted the kites and twines to police station in a truck. The value of the seized kites and twines is said to be more than Rs 5 million,” SHO added.

On the other hand, police on orders of CPO launched a crackdown on kite sellers, buyers and flyers in various parts of the city and arrested 25 people, informed a police spokesperson. A total of 15857 kites and 288 strings were also recovered by police.

He said police on instructions of CPO Israr Ahmed Khan Abbasi, a crackdown was launched on the kite flyers and dealers in the city and 25 people were arrested. He said some 10,000 kites and twines were recovered from the limits of police stations of RA Bazaar, Westridge and Race Course.

Similarly, action was taken against kite sellers in other parts of the city, he said.

Meanwhile, Cannt police along with traders and members of civil society took out a rally from Allah Wali Mosque to Bismillah Chowk in Saddar. The walk was led by DSP Cannt Raja Taifoor and SHO PS Cannt Javed Khan, who while addressing the participants, government banned kite flying in the province.

They said the citizens should not fly kites and use chemical twines, as it pose danger for human lives. They said that kite dealers should avoid selling kites or else strict action would be taken against them. DSP Raja Taifoor said no body would be allowed for selling or flying kites in the city. Cases would be registered against the violators, he said.