Three J&K students booked in Hyderabad for not standing during National Anthem at movie hall

Three engineering students hailing from Jammu and Kashmir have been booked by Cyberabad police for allegedly disrespecting the National Anthem by not standing when it was being played in a cinema hall in Hyderabad.

The incident occurred yesterday afternoon when the three students studying at a private college here went to a cinema hall under Rajendra Nagar Police Station limits to watch a Hindi movie and allegedly did not stand up when the National Anthem was played before the film's screening, the police said on Sunday.

"The management of the theatre lodged a complaint with police, stating that the three persons did not stand up when the National Anthem was played when all others in the cinema hall were standing," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shamshabad Zone) P V Padmaja told PTI.

The three students, in their 20s, belong to Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

The DCP said following the complaint, a case was registered under relevant sections of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act of 1971 against the trio and they were taken into custody.

An investigating official said a senior police officer had informed the management of the theatre, after he noticed the trio not standing up when the Anthem was played, who in turn lodged a complaint with the police.

Further investigation is underway.

Earlier in March, two people were arrested for not standing up when the national anthem was playing at a multiplex in Kachiguda, Hyderabad. The two Muslim men were reported to the police by a Telegu journalist who was present in the same movie theatre.