SRINAGAR: Police said on Thursday that 12 people were “bound down” for not standing up during the national anthem played at a function here in June with Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha in attendance.
The police music band has also been subject to departmental punishment for failing to guarantee that everyone stood before the anthem was played, they claimed.
The 12 people were “bound down” in accordance with CrPC sections 107 and 151, which give police the authority to detain or arrest a person or require them to sign a bond in advance of committing a crime.
Officials said that some attendees of the ‘Pedal for Peace’ cycling event, which was held on June 25, decided not to stand at the closing ceremony.
According to them, the J&K administration strongly condemned the “disrespect” for the national anthem and opened an investigation into the alleged transgression.
Police sources had previously claimed that 14 people had been detained for disrespecting the national anthem, and some officers had also been suspended. Srinagar Police later refuted this claim in a tweet, claiming that it had only “bound down” 12 people in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code and not detained them.
Unverified rumours are circulating that 14 police officers have been detained or suspended for disrespecting the national anthem. The news has been clarified to be absolutely incorrect; instead, 12 people have been generally bonded down for good behaviour under sections 107/151 of the CrPC, according to Srinagar Police, who posted the clarification on Twitter.
