Mumbai police grill Salman Khan

One of Mumbai's leading film stars, Salman Khan was grilled for over six hours by the police as part of their investigation into the underworld's links with the film industry. Salman stars in the yet-to-be released film, Chori Chori Chupke Chupke that police believe was financed by an underworld don who currently lives in Karachi, Pakistan.

Also questioned yesterday along with the directors, brothers Abbas and Mastan, of Chori Chori were Bharat Shah, a diamond merchant and big-time financier of several block buster films.

The film's producer, Nazim Hassan Rizvi, is currently under police custody after being indicted for conspiracy with the Karachi-based gangster Chhota Shakeel for extortion and trying to eliminate people from the film industry.

Shakeel has allegedly financed the film using Rizvi as a front for his plan to exert control over the film industry. After being interrogated by the police, a relaxed-looking Shah told reporters at the police headquarters that he was the sole financier of Chori Chori, for which he had spent over Rs120 million.

"I don't know Shakeel and he does not know me. I do not have any relations with the underworld," he said. "And if I had known that Rizvi had any links with Shakeel, I would not have worked with him."

The next few days will see glamorous stars of this film, Preity Zinta and Rani Mukherjee, being called by the police for further questioning. At a press conference on Friday to announce the Crime Prevention Week to be held from December 18, Mumbai's Police Commissioner M.N. Singh said the city's multi-million rupee film industry has come under the grip of the mafia and the recent arrest of film producer Rizvi on Wednesday has unearthed this kind of racket and its network.

It has always been assumed that the extortion threats and killings in this industry was the result of its nexus with the underworld but "now we have concrete proof to set the law in motion and initiate action and we hope that the investigation of this case is the beginning of the end," said Singh.

On Thursday, the special court set up under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) remanded Rizvi to police custody until December 27 for his alleged conspiracy with Karachi-based gangster Chhota Shakeel to extort and eliminate several film personalities, including Rakesh Roshan, father of heartthrob Hrithik Roshan.

Shakeel has also been named as the accused in the case. Singh said Mumbai Police will spare no one in the Rizvi case in which all the artistes in the film Chori Chori will be questioned.

Hopefully, the interrogations are expected to give information on "who is financing films in the industry, who is controlling the industry, and those involved in the extortion threats," said Singh.

Also, whether the stars were pressurised and forced to accept lower rates than what was prevailing in the market would also come to the fore. Police have been intensely interrogating Rizvi, D. Sivanandan, Joint Commissioner of Police, later told reporters, and the accused has admitted that he had links with Shakeel "with whom he was in regular touch and knew very well".

The police official said the basis of the First Information Report was the tape recorded cassettes of the conversation between Rizvi and Shakeel. Police had also questioned Shah on Friday as he is the financier of Chori Chori. Though Shah has not been accused in the case, he is alleged to be the official front for Shakeel.