LAHORE: The Mujahid Squad checkpoint at Shera Kot has foiled the supply of killer chemical twine into Lahore, arresting three suspects during a search operation.
According to a police spokesperson, the suspects were transporting killer twine and spools of dangerous chemical from Mansehra to Lahore. During a search at the checkpoint, 49 killer strings and 38 spools of dangerous chemical were recovered from their possession.
The arrested suspects have been identified as Shahzaib, Amjad and Shahid. Police handed them over to Shera Kot police station for further legal proceedings.
The Mansehra origin point is the significant detail. Chemically coated twine is not principally manufactured in Lahore; it is produced elsewhere and moved into the city on the approach roads. That geography is what makes checkpoint interdiction — rather than shop raids — the more productive enforcement method in the weeks before the festival.
It also explains why the district administration has placed the inter-district transport of kites and twine on the agenda of its Basant coordination meeting. Lahore’s own licensing regime for manufacturers, traders and retailers has no purchase on stock that enters the district outside that system.
The term refers to string treated with a coating of powdered glass, metal filings or similar abrasive material bonded to the line with chemical adhesive to give it a cutting edge in aerial contests. The same property that cuts a rival’s string cuts human tissue.
The characteristic injury pattern is a deep laceration to the neck or face of a motorcyclist travelling at speed into a fallen line strung across a road. Because the line is thin and often near-invisible against the sky, riders have no opportunity to react. Metallic string carries the additional hazard of contact with overhead power lines, causing electrocution and localised outages.
These injuries, not kite flying itself, were the basis of the original prohibition on Basant.
According to police, action against the killer twine and dangerous chemicals used in kite flying will be continued in a more effective manner, and those violating the law will be dealt with in accordance with the law.
The Mujahid Squad operates mobile and static checkpoints across Lahore under the district police, with a mandate covering street crime interdiction and vehicle checking. Its checkpoints on the city’s northern approaches have become a standing feature of pre-Basant enforcement.
Separate operations in Lahore have intercepted inter-district dealers moving kites and coated twine through online coordination.
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