Cable operators in Mumbai blocked all television channels except Doordarshan on Monday night in protest against police 'raids' against major movie channels allegedly showing adult movies in contravention of the Bombay high court order.

"We have blocked all channels except Doordarshan to protest against the police action," Ganesh Naidu, President of the All Mumbai Cable Operators Association, said.

Naidu said cable operators were protesting the police action, saying they were merely service providers and not broadcasters. Hence, they had no control on transmission of adult content.

It is for the police to take action against broadcasters and not cable operators, he said.

"We welcome the high court decision and we are also in favour of it, but it is for broadcasters to act upon and not the cable operators.

"We shall approach the Bombay high court on Tuesday for a clarification on the issue but meanwhile we have protested to draw the attention of the people towards the issue."

Earlier in the day, nine major film television channels went off the air after the police stopped their telecast for allegedly showing adult movies.

The police sealed the decoders of the movie channels at the control rooms of several Multi-System Operators, the city's major cable operators.