Growing protests against "Jo Bole So Nihaal" and a security scare following the bomb blasts in two Delhi halls Monday forced theatre owners in several states to pull out the controversial film.

Screening of the film was stopped abruptly in Gujarat, Haryana, West Bengal and the cities of Bhubaneswar, Bangalore and Shimla.

Sikh groups have demanded that "Jo Bole So Nihaal" be banned, saying its title and scenes showing a Sikh man being chased by scantily clad women had offended religious sentiments.

Nirav Ahuja, secretary of the Ahmedabad Multiplex Association, said: "Following the Delhi blasts, we decided to cancel screening of the film."

In Rajkot, Gujarat's second largest city, theatre owners cancelled shows. In Vadodara, four theatres screened the film under tight security but one multiplex stopped the shows.

The only theatre in Bangalore screening "Jo Bole So Nihaal" pulled the film out following a request by the Karnataka police in the wake of the bomb blasts in Delhi theatres Sunday, which left one person dead and around 60 injured.

The Delhi cinema halls were playing the film.

Karnataka Director General of Police (DGP) S.N. Borkar asked theatre owners and exhibitors to stop the screening.

"The screening has been stopped indefinitely. We have persuaded the exhibitor and the theatre owner to switch to some other film so as to prevent any trouble," Bangalore Police Commissioner S. Marisamy told IANS.

The film was withdrawn from all cinemas in West Bengal and Haryana.

"Screening has been stopped after consulting police officials," West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee told reporters.

The film made an exit from the only theatres playing it in Shimla and Bhubaneswar.

"We have received threats from Sikh religious organizations against screening of the film," said Vijay Seth, owner of Rivoli theatre, Shimla. "I have paid Rs.150,000 to the film's distributor and hope to get a refund."

Rabindra Sahu, manager of Sriya Talkies in Bhubaneshwar that put off shows, said: "Who knows what will happen, we don't want to take any risk."

"Jo Bole So Nihaal" was, however, playing in two halls in Orissa's Cuttack city.

N.R. Pachisia, producer of "Jo Bole So Nihaal", said the protesting groups wanted the hero's name changed and certain sequences removed or re-shot.

"Why should I, when the courts have said no one has any authority to prevent the film from being screened? My film has lost so much money already I can't afford to invest in changes."

Meanwhile, the opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Chandigarh alleged a Congress conspiracy to defame the Sikh community through the blasts in Delhi.

"The Congress could have a role in this (the blasts). It must be investigated," SAD chief Parkash Singh Badal said.