Bollywood bolsters security as underworld fears return

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MUMBAI: It sounds like a Bollywood thriller, but a spate of shootings and extortion threats targeting Mumbai's stars has sent the industry scrambling for bodyguards, reviving memories of the underworld's grip on cinema in the 1990s.

From gunshots to cash demands, the incidents have unsettled the Indian industry, decades after police crackdowns weakened the criminal gangs once deeply embedded in the multi-billion-dollar business.

Police have linked the latest violence to the gang of Lawrence Bishnoi, a convicted Indian gangster accused by US prosecutors of directing a global criminal network from behind bars.

"Stars are moving around with bodyguards on either side," actor and security agency owner Ronit Roy said.

"There has been a sharp increase in demand ... Requests have expanded beyond just lead actors, to include family members and children."

Author S Hussain Zaidi, a former investigative journalist, said opportunistic criminals were exploiting the notoriety of established gangsters.

"Some desperadoes are opening fire in the air to scare the industry and spread fear," Zaidi told AFP.

"And they have succeeded - as people have started believing that the mafia-dominated 1990s era is back."

The latest incidents include gunfire targeting actor Tiger Shroff's car in Mumbai in October, and an alleged US$600,000 extortion demand against actor Tusshar Kapoor.

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