CHENNAI: The police have arrested two men for hoarding and selling banned maanja thread and kites in Tiruvottiyur.

Tiruvottiyur police got a tip-off about two men using maanja threads to fly kites, after which a police team apprehended the duo near Gandhi Nagar main road in Tiruvottiyur.

The police seized ten kites and four spools of banned maanja thread. They arrested two persons, Venkatesan (25) and Arun (30). Further inquiry revealed that the accused ordered the kites and kite strings online and sold them illegally in the city. The duo was produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.

It is worth noting that the city police have been regularly cracking down on maanja thread sellers. Last month, a 67-year-old man, Prakash Jain, got injured after a maanja thread struck him when he was riding on the Moolakadai flyover. After the incident, three persons, including a woman, were arrested by the Kodungaiyur police, resulting in the seizure of 35 kites and five spools of banned maanja thread.