A 70-year-old man's act of drawing the national flag on paper for his grandsons has landed him in jail in Orissa's Balasore district.

Nilratan Bawali of Talapada village was charged with causing dishonour to the tricolour, police said on Tuesday.

Bawali's grandsons pestered him for getting national flags on Independence Day. The labourer drew the tricolour on papers, which the kids took out.

However, some local residents, alleging that the sketch was wrongly drawn and was not being properly used, lodged a complaint with the police.

Police took Bawali into custody after registering a case under Section 2 of Insult to Nation's Honour Act, 1971 against him.