RAWALPINDI, Feb 18 (APP):The district administration and Rawalpindi District Police have urged the citizens to ensure that their children do not violate the ban on kite flying imposed by the provincial government otherwise strict action would be taken against the violators in accordance with the law.
According to a police spokesman, over 356 kites flyers and sellers were rounded up during this season and nearly 48,000 kites and 800 string rolls were recovered from their possession.
He informed that Potohar division police netted 147 violators with 5300 kites, 200 string rolls, 326 liquor bottles, two pistols, sound system and other items.
Similarly, Rawal Division police conducted raids in their respective jurisdiction and netted 18 accused with 438 kites and 15 string rolls while Saddar Division police held 23 kite flyers and sellers and seized 630 kites, 18 string rolls and other items.
He said, separate cases had been registered against all the violators.
The spokesman said that on the special directives of City Police Officer, Rawalpindi Syed Khalid Hamdani, police were taking strict action in accordance with the law. The CPO had requested the parents to stop their children from getting involved in such activities as a crackdown against kite flyers had already been accelerated in the city, he added.
Special squads had been formed to net the violators while deputy superintendents of police and station house officers were also taking part in the operation.
He said that the officers concerned had been directed to utilise all available resources to control the kite flying and to net the ban violators and the kite sellers.
He said that the violators were being dealt with an iron hand and no one would be allowed to violate the law and indulge in kite flying and selling.
The use of metal string for kite flying results in the loss of human lives therefore, all-out efforts are made to stop kite flying, he said adding, a special awareness campaign is also being run to control the ban violation.
He said that the Inspector General of Police, had issued orders to speed up crackdown against kite flying and aerial firing.
He said Rawalpindi district police had adopted a zero-tolerance policy against kite sellers, flyers, aerial firing and strict action was being taken against the violators.
The people had also been requested to report on 15 against kite flying and aerial firing so that such notorious elements could be immediately rounded up, he added.
“Keeping in mind the need to protect the citizens from any untoward incidents, more than 1500 police officials were deployed to thwart any plans for Basant on Feb 15, Thursday night and Feb 16, Friday. Drone operators were being used to monitor kite-flying,” he said.
He informed that 188 kite flying ban violators were sent behind the bars during crackdown launched in two days, Thursday and Friday.
Police officials have reiterated time and again that flying kites is a potentially dangerous sport that can lead to the loss of life, and those found disregarding its cost to human lives will be prosecuted according to law.
The parents, teachers, scholars and civil society were also taken into confidence to play their role in preventing the celebration of Basant.
The Rawalpindi police had also launched an awareness campaign about the hazards of the risky sport with the help of religious scholars, who were asked to make announcements on their respective mosques’ sound systems about the demerits of kite-flying.
The police had finalized arrangements for live monitoring of all densely populated areas, while all Station House Officers (SHOs) had been directed to ensure strict surveillance of kite sellers in their areas.
The police teams were trying to trace and arrest culprits involved in buying and selling killer strings and kites through social media, he said adding that monitoring of courier services and passenger vehicles coming from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was also being tightened, so that any kites and chemical strings being brought to the city for Basant could be seized.
SSP Operations, Rawalpindi, Hafiz Kamran Asghar said that no one would be allowed to violate the ban and strict action as per the law would be taken against kite flyers and sellers.
