Investigators say the victim gave different versions of how the injury happened.
LAHORE:
A 22-year-old man was injured in Lahore’s Green Town area on Sunday in an incident initially reported as a suspected kite injury, amid growing vigilance ahead of the Basant season.
The injured man, identified as Owais, was riding a motorbike to work when he was shot in the throat. He was transferred to Jinnah Hospital, where he was given medical assistance and then admitted to the surgery department. Hospital officials said his condition was stable.
The case initially sparked concerns over the possible resurgence of dangerous kite flying practices, which have historically led to serious and fatal incidents in the provincial capital.
However, the Lahore police later said that preliminary findings did not support claims that the injury was caused by a kite string.
Read: PA passes Kite Flying Bill 2025 with tough penalties
A spokesperson for DIG Operations Lahore termed the reports circulating in some media as “factually incorrect”, adding that the incident should not be linked to kite flying in the absence of evidence.
“The injured person was not injured by a kite string,” the spokesperson said, noting that no kite string was recovered from the site.
Police said the injured man gave conflicting statements about how he was injured. In one account he claimed a friend attacked him, while in another he claimed a kite string caused the injury.
Investigators say the man is a drug addict and has old marks of injuries from sharp objects, suggesting previous unrelated incidents.
“All available evidence does not support the spread of the kite story,” the spokesperson said, adding that the case was being examined from multiple angles and further legal action would be taken once the facts were established.
Police urged the media to avoid linking unverified incidents to kite flying.
Commenting on the enforcement measures, Faisal Kamran, DIG Operations, said that the Lahore Police had recorded 1,850 cases of illegal kite flying so far this year.
“There is no tolerance for those who put the lives of citizens in danger,” he said, adding that police remain active in their campaign to combat the practice across the city.
