MUMBAI, (Reuters) – City authorities in Mumbai  demolished the shanty home of a “Slumdog Millionaire” child  star yesterday, forcing his family into the streets months  after the Oscar-winning film shot him to global fame.

Azharuddin Ismail, 9, played the character of Salim as a  child in the film, a rags-to-riches romance about a poor Indian  boy competing for love and money on a television game show.

Ismail’s tarpaulin-covered home in a teeming slum was one  of several shanties, illegally built along a drain, that were  demolished by local authorities in Mumbai, India’s financial  capital and entertainment hub.

“When they came I was sleeping, they shook me awake and one  policeman even threatened me,” Ismail, surrounded by  half-broken suitcases filled with clothes and utensils, told  Reuters.

“What can I do if they have demolished my house? I will  sleep out in the open.”

A poster of “Slumdog Millionaire”, signed by director Danny  Boyle, fluttered from the only wall of Ismail’s shanty still  standing. Open sewers run nearby and it had no running water.