Shillong, March 15 (IANS) The Shillong bench of the Gauhati High Court Monday rejected the bail plea of Indra Mohan Jha, whose publishing house had printed a blasphemous image of Jesus -- holding a beer can and a cigarette -- in a school textbook.

The objectionable pictures of Jesus Christ found in the cursive writing exercise copies at a private school in Shillong were brought to the notice of the influential church by some guardians.

Justice T. Vaiphei also terminated the earlier interim bail granted to Jha March 5 and asked him to surrender to police.

Earlier, a team of Meghalaya Police was sent to New Delhi to apprehend Jha but returned empty handed.

The blasphemous picture of Jesus Christ created a furore in Meghalaya, and condemnations poured in from various religious heads and social organisations.