GUJRANWALA: Police on Monday claimed to have busted an interprovincial network allegedly involved in the illegal sale and transportation of kites and chemical string, arresting eight suspects and seize 20,000 unregistered kites ahead of the Basant season.
Read More: Thousands arrested in Punjab alone for violating kite-flying ban
According to Gujranwala police, the arrests were made following a tip-off received by the Satellite Town police circle regarding the smuggling of prohibited kite-flying material from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Punjab. Acting on the information, police intercepted a Lahore-bound passenger bus coming from Peshawar and recovered a large consignment of kites and hazardous string during a search.
گوجرانوالہ پولیس نے پتنگیں اور ڈوریں فروخت کرنے والی بس پکڑ لی،
پتنگیں اور ڈوریں سپلائی کرنے والے 8 ملزمان بھی دھر لیے گئے،
ملزمان کے قبضے سے 20 ہزار سے زائد رنگ برنگی پتنگیں اور 18 سو زائد ڈور کی چرخیاں برآمد، pic.twitter.com/zW84G9UT6g— Shahid Hussain (@ShahidHussainJM) January 26, 2026
A police spokesperson said the seized items included 20,000 unregistered kites, 1,800 rolls of chemical string and other related material. Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects were operating an interprovincial network, using social media platforms to take online orders and supplying the banned material to different areas of Punjab.
Separate cases were registered against the eight suspects under the Prohibition of Kite Flying Ordinance, and further investigations were under way to identify other individuals linked to the network, the spokesperson added.
Meanwhile, Gujrat police also intensified their crackdown on the illegal kite trade and arrested five suspects in separate operations. Sub Inspector Waqas Ahmed said four suspects were apprehended by Civil Lines police led by SHO Inspector Furqan Shahzad Cheema, while another was arrested by Sara-i-Alamgir police. Basant-related material was recovered from their possession.
In Okara, police arrested two kite sellers in separate raids. Okara Saddar police detained Shahid Nadeem and recovered 175 kites, 20 rolls of string and sale proceeds. In another operation, Hujra Shah Muqeem police arrested a suspect identified as Ali and seized 25 kites.
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Police officials said the crackdown would continue across Punjab to curb the illegal trade, which remains banned due to safety concerns and repeated fatal incidents linked to chemical and metal strings.