Three traders held for selling Chinese manjha

VARANASI: Three traders were arrested with huge stocks of banned Chinese manjha (thread used for kite flying) on the eve of Makar Sankranti festival on Monday. Kite flying is major component of Makar Sankranti celebrations in the city.
The Jaitpura police on Monday carried out a drive in the city and arrested three traders — Amjad, Riyaz and Meraj.

Over two quintals of Chinese manja was recovered from their shops which they had stocked for the festival of Makar Sankranti. The Chowk police had also caught a trader last week with huge stock of Chinese manjha.

The district administration had banned trade of Chinese manjha through prohibitory orders issued under relevant section of CrPC recently. But despite the ban, traders continued to sell the deadly thread and two youths were injured in Kabirnagar and Dhoopchandi on Monday.

In view of the high demand of kites and manjha on Makar Sankranti, several makeshift shops have come up all over the city. Though the traders did not display Chinese manjha in their shops, it was being made available clandestinely.

Meanwhile, kites containing photos of politicians, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath, were the hot favourite among the youth.