Islampur, May 27: An attempt by a cinema hall owner to screen the controversial film Jo Bole So Nihaal was stopped by police here today.

The management of Star cinema had plastered posters all over the town announcing that the film would be screened from 1.30 pm today. As a result, a large number of enthusiastic people had turned up for the show. However, all these people were disappointed when the police intervened to stop the show, and the organisers had to screen the Salman Khan-starrer Lucky instead.

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had recently issued instructions to his administration that Jo Bole So Nihaal should not be screened anywhere in the state. The precautionary decision came a day after powerful blasts ripped through two cinema halls screening the film in Delhi on May 22. One person was killed and 70 injured in the incident.

The district administration got cracking after The Telegraph wanted to know from subdivisional police officer (SDPO) Ujjal Kumar Bhowmick about the publicity being given to the screening of the film. Bhowmick then instructed the police station to stop the screening of the controversial film.

The manager of Star, Niranjan Sarkar, conceded that there were plans to screen the film featuring Sunny Deol. Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee, the apex body of the Sikhs, had protested against the screening of the film whose title is a line lifted from a Sikh prayer.

Sarkar said a large number of tickets had already been sold and the police arrived when the first show was about to begin.

?We are removing the posters. However, no one officially told us that the film could not be shown and moreover it has not been banned. We withdrew the film on the request of the local police,? Sarkar said.

The SDPO later said all cinema halls in the subdivision have been issued strict instructions that the film should not be screened. ?We have also told cable operators not to telecast the movie. We will not allow unscrupulous businessmen to capitalise on the controversy,? Bhowmick said.

North Dinajpur district police superintendent Asoke Kumar Dutta said there was no official order from any quarter banning the movie. ?There was trouble after the film was released and we have been told verbally by our superiors to ensure that there is no breach of the peace and that is why the screening has been stopped,? Dutta said.

Samir Das, who had to settle for Lucky, said: ?I wanted very badly to see Jo Bole... I am disappointed.?