Hyderabad, Jan 14 (IANS) Banned Chinese manja claimed the life of a 35-year-old man in Telangana’s Sangareddy district on Wednesday. The deceased has been identified as Avidesh, a native of Uttar Pradesh. According to police, the incident occurred when Avidesh was travelling on a motorcycle and the manja of a flying kite got entangled around his neck and caused a deep cut. The man died on the spot due to profuse bleeding.

Police have registered a case and taken up an investigation in the case.

This came close on the heel of a series of such incidents in Hyderabad. More than a dozen people were injured in Hyderabad and its outskirts during the last couple of weeks.

An Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) from Nallakunta police station, who was hurt at Ramanthapur on Sunday was travelling on his motorcycle towards Nampally Exhibition Ground when a flying kite’s Chinese manja suddenly got entangled around his neck, causing a serious injury.

He was rushed to a private hospital, where he was given 10 stitches. Uppal police registered a case under Section 125 of the BNS.

In another incident, a woman aged around 70 years sustained a severe leg injury after a Chinese manja got entangled around her leg at Meerpet on Tuesday.

In 2024, Naik-rank officer of the Indian Army died after his throat got slit by a Chinese manja in Hyderabad.

Kagithala Koteswar Reddy (30), a native of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, succumbed at a hospital. The incident took place when he was riding a scooter on the Indra Reddy flyover in Langar Houz area.

In a related development, the Telangana State Human Rights Commission has taken cognisance of the continuing public safety and human rights concern arising from the unchecked circulation of the banned Chinese manja.

The Commission has directed Hyderabad Police Commissioner, V.C. Sajjanar, to submit a comprehensive report on the issue by February 26.

Human rights advocate Immaneni Ramarao filed a petition highlighting multiple incidents of severe injuries.

The petitioner urged the Commission to ensure strict enforcement of the ban and to take strong action against its sale, including on e-commerce platforms.

Despite the ban, Chinese manja is being used rampantly for flying kites during the ongoing Sankranti festival season.

Hyderabad police have launched a special drive against Chinese manja (synthetic/nylon kite string) to curb its sale, storage, and transportation in the city.

From January 8 to January 11, the police have seized 2,150 bobbins of Chinese manja worth Rs 43 lakh.

The police registered 29 cases against those involved in the sale and arrested 57 people.

During the last one month, police registered 132 cases and seized 8,376 bobbins worth Rs 1.68 crore. A total of 200 people have been arrested.

Commissioner Sajjanar has warned that jail is inevitable for those selling or buying the banned manja.

–IANS

ms/rad