The police in the Indian city of Mumbai have reportedly launched a crackdown on the involvement of criminal organisations in Hindi film financing.

Mumbai joint police commissioner D. Sivanandan spoke to journalists about "the deep involvement" of "a majority of the members of the film industry" with local mafia. "We are not saying that everyone has links. But any one of those people whose noses are clean need not worry," Sivanandan said.

The commissioner's comments follow the arrest of producer Naseem Hasan Rizvi (Chori Chori Chupke Chupke) on evidence including taped telephone calls made to and by Karachi-based gangster Chhotta Shakeel.

Pakistan-based crime lords have reportedly been making threatening phone calls and dictating terms to Indian film personalities for several years. This has led to murders, shoot-outs and attacks on prominent film producers.