Shahjahanpur: A 25-year-old biker was killed after a stray strand of Chinese manjha (the glass-coated kite string banned in India) slit his throat on the Sitapur highway, police said on Thursday.

According to officials, Ravi Kumar Sharma was travelling with his wife, who was riding pillion, to his in-laws’ house in Mohammadi to celebrate Bhai Dooj when the incident occurred.

He was rushed to the Government Medical College, where doctors pronounced him dead, Superintendent of Police (SP) Rajesh Dwivedi told PTI.

Sharma was a resident of Nagla Jaju village under the Katra Police Station limits, Dwivedi added.

Police said this was not the first such tragedy in the district. In January, a police constable had died after suffering a deep cut to his throat caused by Chinese manjha near Azizganj.

Following that incident, authorities launched a crackdown on the sale of the banned kite string.

In July, district police seized over 300 bundles of Chinese manjha and arrested several traders — a move that reportedly caused divisions within the traders’ association.