rawalpindi - Deputy Commissioner Talat Mehmood Gondal directed police and other departments to launch crackdown against kite sellers and flyers across the district to safeguard the lives of people becoming victims of stray twines.
The directions came after Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shehzad Sharif ordered immediate removal of SP Rawal Division Behram Khan, DSP City Farhan Aslam and SHO City Israr Satti from their offices after a young man fall prey to stray twine while riding a motorcycle at Committee Chowk.
A rescuer told media that a man was going on motorcycle when stray twines wrapped up around his neck causing a deep cut. The injured man was rushed to District Headquarters Hospital, Raja Bazaar for treatment where his condition was told to be serious.
A senior police officer told The Nation that making SP Behram Khan as OSD by the CM Punjab was strange as the same SP had also been transferred to Balochistan since January 16, 2018. However, the Rawalpindi police bosses had not relieved him yet, he said.
The deputy commissioner, while chairing a meeting on Saturday, also urged elected representatives to hold meetings with notable of their constituencies to convince the parents not to allow their children to fly kites. The DC also asked the people to inform the police about kite sellers anywhere in the district.
The meeting was attended by CPO Israr Ahmed Khan Abbasi, MNA Malik Abrar Ahmed, assistant commissioners and other officers of the concerned departments.
He said that police should launch crackdown against those selling kites and twines besides arresting the people flying the kites. He said that search operations should also be conducted in the areas where people use weapons for firing during kite flying. He said that CM Punjab had issued strict directions to district administrations for stopping kite flying in their respective districts.
Addressing the meeting, CPO Israr Abbasi said that all DSPs and SHOs had been directed to patrol on roads and in streets to overwhelm kite flyers. He said that the police had also been carrying out raids against those involved in selling kites and twines.
He said that the police had so far arrested several kite flyers and recovered thousands of kites and twines from their possession. Cases were also registered against the kite sellers and flyers besides sending them to jail, he said.