An ex-army personnel lost his life on Vishwakarma Puja after a razor-sharp kite string, believed to be Chinese Manja, slit his throat on the Kalyani Expressway, prompting a swift police crackdown that led to 11 arrests across four police stations in North 24 Parganas within 24 hours.

On Wednesday afternoon, Goutam Ghosh (40), a Barrackpore resident and retired army man working as a security guard at the Calcutta airport, was on his motorcycle to work when the string cut his throat. He fell from the vehicle and bled profusely before being rushed to Bandipur Sub-Divisional Hospital, where he was declared dead, police said.

The tragedy, coinciding with Vishwakarma Puja, has once again highlighted the dangers of Chinese Manja — synthetic, glass-coated strings banned under orders of the Calcutta High Court (2020) and the National Green Tribunal. Past incidents on the Parama flyover had led to protective barriers being installed.

Following Ghosh’s death, police intensified operations.

The Khardah police station saw 5 arrests. SI Subhankar Chowdhury’s team raided P K Biswas Road near Sitala Mandir on September 17, allegedly seizing a large cache of Manja from Nurul Islam (28). Four others — Haider Ali (35), Pankaj Kumar Shaw (42), Md Imran (27), and Md Ali alias Babu (39) — were also held. A suo moto case was filed under Sections 223 (disobedience) and 125 (act endangering life) of the BNS and Section 15 of the Environment Protection Act.

Meanwhile, SI Aritra of the Titagarh police station allegedly seized 33 rolls of Chinese Manja from Sashikant Shaw, who was also arrested and booked under similar provisions in a separate suo motu case.

ASI Prahlad Ghosh of New Barrackpore police station arrested Mridul Chowdhury (42) who is from Madhyamgram, Babla Sardar (34) from New Barrackpore, Somnath Mistri (38) from New Barrackpore, and Amit Saha (39) from Madhyamgram near a railway siding. Four kites and reels of synthetic Manja were allegedly recovered in the suo motu case under relevant sections of the BNS and Section 15 of the Environment Protection Act.

SI Md Khursid Alam received information while he was on patrol at around 6:45 pm on Wednesday, following which a team allegedly caught Jeet Yadav (21) red-handed flying a kite with synthetic thread near Augustine Day School in the Mohanpur police jurisdiction. He was arrested on the spot, and the reel was seized. A suo moto complaint was filed, and a case was registered under appropriate sections of law.

Local residents expressed anger at the recurring menace. “Despite legal bans and court orders, the availability and use of Chinese Manja continues unabated, often with tragic results and the latest incident is the proof,” said Arun Das of Titagarh, who claimed to have narrowly escaped an accident the same afternoon.

“Arresting 11 individuals reflects urgency in tackling this menace. However, it should have been seized before a life was lost,” he added.