LUCKNOW, Feb. 6 -- Taking a stern view of rising fatalities linked to banned nylon kite string, commonly known as "Chinese manjha," chief minister Yogi Adityanath has said that deaths caused by the sharp synthetic thread should be treated on par with murder.

In recent tragic incidents in Lucknow and other parts of the state, unsuspecting commuters and pedestrians lost their lives after the nearly invisible string slit their throats or caused other fatal injuries. At least six deaths and multiple injuries were reported in different districts of Uttar Pradesh in about a year.

A medical representative, Mohammad Shoaib, 33, died allegedly after a kite string cut a vein in his neck in Lucknow's Bazaar Khala area on Wednesday afternoon when h...