State Times News
JAMMU: Even as the Raksha Bandhan festivities across Jammu were marked with kite flying as usual, uneasy reports of eight children getting severely injured due to hazardous nylon thread sent shock waves in the temple city on Monday.
Despite blanket ban on use, sale and purchase of the hazardous thread, known in common parlance as Chinese thread (Gattu), it remained available hugely, courtesy the conniving J&K Police.
If reports are to be believed 90 per cent of the Chinese thread (Gattu), remained in circulation throughout the day, proving huge threat to the commuters, especially two wheeler riders.
Sources told STATE TIMES that over 900 Chinese thread (Gattu), stocks seized last year by Pacca Danga police were resold in the market this year, some of these gifted to spoil brats of senior police officers. Questions are being raised how these seized stocks made way out of the police Malkhana.
When asked, several middle rung officers had no answer to the queries about selling or gifting of the seized Chinese thread (Gattu), as no inventories are available in the concerned police station.
According to reports, nine persons including a Jawan were injured in various incidents of kite flying and cuts due to banned Chinese thread.
While eight cases were reported in the Government Medical College (GMC) and Hospital, one person was rushed to Government Hospital, Gandhi Nagar with severe injuries received by Chinese thread (Gattu). These included some scooter riders also.
A Jawan namely Romesh Sharma, resident of Village Saharan Gho Manhasa was injured at Flyover while riding his scooter.
Others who received injures were Vimal Uppal, resident of Resham Ghar Colony; Vansh Sharma, resident of Bakshi Nagar; Pawan Gupta, resident of Shaheedi Chowk; Anav Jain, resident of Karan Nagar; Rafique Hussain, resident of Raipur Satwari and Rakesh Kumar, resident of Gho Manhasan.
Despite ban on Chinese thread some of the shopkeepers are selling this thread.
Meanwhile, a team of Pacca Danga police arrested one Manzoor Ahmed Ganai, resident of Gujjar Nagar and recovered five rolls of banned Chinese thread (Gattu) from his possession, which he had concealed in a carry bag.
In this regard, FIR 99/2017 was registered at Police Station Pacca Danga and further investigation of the case is going on. According to yet another report, a minor boy namely Avi Kumar (14), son of Bodh Raj, resident of Gho Manhasan received electric shock while grabbing the string of a kite which was entangled in the 11,000 KVA line. He was immediately shifted to GMC wherein the doctors put him on ventilator. His condition is stated to be critical.