RAWALPINDI: A traffic warden died after he was electrocuted while trying to remove a metal string, used to fly kites, from the balcony of his home in Qasimabad, Dhoke Khabba, on Sunday.

The Punjab government has banned kite flying and the production, storage, and use of sharpened and metal strings to fly kites, and had directed the district administration and police to enforce the ban and arrest violators.

However, reports of people being injured or killed from kite strings have continued, while the district administration and police have not imposed the ban.

A colleague of the deceased, identified as Malik Asim Mehmood, 30, argued that if the violators of the government’s ban had been “brought to justice, the traffic warden would have been on duty”.

Mehmood was supposed to be on duty in Murree on Sunday afternoon.

A native of the Kalyam Awan village in Gujar Khan, Mehmood was to get married in March.

He was posted to Murree for the winter, and was due to begin his duty on Sunday.

After he was electrocuted, he was taken to the Benazir Bhutto Hospital where the doctors pronounced him dead.

City Traffic Officer (CTO) Chaudhry Yousuf Shahid said the warden’s death was a loss and tragedy, adding that the deceased would be buried in his native town on Monday.

“For the first time, the guard of honour will be given to the deceased traffic warden by the traffic police before he is laid to rest,” Mr Shahid said.

“Asim, who joined the traffic police department in 2006 and was posted the next year was hardworking, honest and dedicated.

“His tragic death is a big loss for the department as well as for his colleagues, who will miss him,” said Wajid Satti, a close colleague of the deceased.

Published in Dawn January 16th, 2017