Cops to raid e-commerce warehouses?

Hyderabad: With the continued availability of banned Chinese manja, the city police have decided to raid e-commerce warehouses to tackle the manja menace. Police Commissioner CV Anand stated the police may raid the e-commerce storage houses and call them for a meeting.

Taking to social media, he posted, “The real reason for the availability of the so-called Chinese manja, which is made by Indians in India, is e-commerce, and anyone can order it online. So we may have to raid the e-commerce storage houses and call them for a meeting on this! Just see to what extent one has to go—will people not do anything voluntarily if it is dangerous?!?” he posted on X while reacting to a media report about the easy availability of Chinese manja on online sites.

Ahead of Sankranti, the police said they apprehended 148 persons indulging in the illegal business of prohibited Chinese manja, a synthetic nylon string coated with abrasive material like powdered glass or metal, which poses significant risks to public safety, wildlife, and the environment.

As many as 107 cases were booked at various police stations in the city since October 2024. DCP Commissioner’s Task Force YVS Sudeendra said 7,334 Chinese manja bobbins worth over Rs 88 lakh have been seized during the raids.

He said despite bans in several regions, the availability and use of Chinese manja during kite festivals and other events continues to raise serious concerns. It poses a threat to human safety, a hazard to birds and animals, and has an environmental impact. There were previous incidents of deaths due to the use of Chinese manja.

A police constable suffered injury after Chinese thread got entangled around his neck. Shivraj, who works at the Langer Houz traffic police station, was going on a bike on the Tilak Nagar-Narayanguda flyover when the incident happened. Before he could realise, manja inflicted a deep cut on the neck. Locals shifted him to a hospital. Such incidents were reported in Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, and Medchal districts.

Last year a soldier was killed after his throat was slit by Chinese manja. Naik Kagithala Koteswar Reddy (30) died after his throat was slit while riding a scooty on the Indra Reddy flyover. He was a native of Pedda Valteru in the Visakhapatnam district of AP.