Punjab police arrest 153 in kite-flying crackdown

LAHORE: Punjab police have arrested 153 people and registered 141 cases across the province in the past 24 hours under the Anti-Kite Flying Act, a police spokesperson said on Thursday.

The arrests were made as part of an ongoing crackdown on the illegal manufacturing, sale and flying of kites, which authorities said pose a serious threat to public safety.

Police seized 22,753 banned kites and 570 reels of kite string during the operations.

In Lahore alone, 81 suspects were arrested for involvement in the illegal kite trade, while 2,807 kites were confiscated.

According to the spokesperson, police have so far arrested 4,171 people this year in connection with the illegal trade of kites and metallic string across Punjab.

Authorities have recovered more than 350,000 kites and 7,985 reels of string from suspects since the start of the year.

Police said action would continue without discrimination against kite flyers, manufacturers and sellers, adding that the crackdown would remain in place until the practice is completely eliminated to protect human lives.