Dec. 27 :    Dec. 27:  As unparalleled efforts were activated on both sides of the border to contain the flare-up in Kathmandu, Hrithik Roshan challenged anyone to produce evidence of his alleged comments against Nepal and hinted that the mafia may be behind the mischief. Hrithik also made an impassioned appeal to end the violence and offered to help the families of the four people who died in the violence that erupted after a mysterious claim that the actor had denigrated Nepal and its people in a television interview. Nepal deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Poudel called for calm in a national address and said he was ready to talk with students to halt the rampage, which continued today. The protesters have called a general strike tomorrow. Cinemas in Nepal suspended screening of Hindi films for 10 days following boycott calls by students. 'We can't go against the feelings of the people,' head of the Nepal Motion Picture Association, Uddhab Poudel said. India joined efforts to pacify the hysterical mobs, saying elements inimical to the warm bilateral relations were behind the disturbances. In an unusual gesture, the Indian embassy in Kathmandu issued a two-page press release, clarifying the actor had not made any remarks against Nepal. 'The embassy is concerned at the rumours being spread by elements inimical to the warm and cordial India-Nepal relations and the age-old ties between the peoples of Nepal and India,' it said. The Himalayan kingdom's attempts to control the situation gained momentum this evening with Nepal TV airing a phone-in interview with Hrithik, who denied the allegations. 'I want to tell the people of Nepal to stop all this. Unless they see proof of the interview, they should not go by hearsay. This is being done to tarnish my image. It is motivated,' the star said. Hrithik told Reuters he believed members of the criminal underworld may have been responsible for stirring the trouble. 'Maybe it is the mafia. I don't know who is responsible.' Mumbai police recently clai-med they had unearthed a plot to kill several Bollywood personalities, including Hrithik's father Rakesh Roshan who was shot at in January. The underworld conspiracy was intended at crushing Hrithik's flourishing career, the police had said. Several prominent Nepalis suspect foul play behind the rampage. 'Some vested interests could have hatched a conspiracy to malign the actor,' a resident told The Telegraph from Kathmandu. Hrithik iterated in Mumbai he had not given an interview to any channel against the Nepalese people and said there was no question of any apology. Confusion reigned in Kathmandu over the channel that is alleged to have telecast the controversial interview on December 14. A senior journalist said: 'Though the protesters have gone wild over the alleged remarks made by the Indian star, nobody in Kathmandu can say for sure which was the television channel that telecast the offending interview.' The Left-wing students leading the violent demonstrations believe Hrithik made the anti-Nepal statements on the STAR network. But a STAR spokesperson said in New Delhi the Hrithik interview on Rendezvous with Simi Garewal was aired on December 6. There were no comments related to Nepal. 'I have audited the tapes three times and I can vouch that there was no such thing,' the spokesperson added. While two students were killed in yesterday's police firing, two others succumbed to injuries this morning. Hrithik said: 'I am deeply distressed to learn that four innocent lives have been lost after police opened fire yesterday to disperse protesters. I offer my heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the family of the innocent people, who have become victims of a dangerous game being perpetrated against me by vested interests. 'I want to do something for the families of the people who died. I will go out of my way to help them financially or in any other way. I love the Nepalese people just as I love Indians. The most trusted people in my house are all from Nepal.' He told a television channel that a Nepali, 50-year-old Prem Singh Negi, 'brought me up like his son. He is still around. My chef is Nepalese. He travels with me wherever I go'. Nepal communications minister Jaya Prakash Gupta's appeal to students not to resort to violence fell on deaf ears as protesters burned tyres and set up road blocks. Two hospitals in Kathmandu said at least seven students were treated for bullet wounds. Police had to resort to baton charges as mobs stoned and looted shops belonging to Indians on upmarket New Road, Bhadrakali and Putali Sarak. Students also attacked the State Bank of India branch, but they were repelled. Reports of selective attacks on Indian tourists have come in, but there is no official confirmation. The protest in and around the Kathmandu valley threw life out of gear and inconvenienced tourists and travellers. An Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Varanasi was cancelled - leaving 162 passengers stranded - because the night-halt crew could not reach the airport.