The last rites of the actor were performed yesterday evening at the Pawan Hans crematorium.

Celebrities expressed grief over the demise of veteran actor Jagdish Raj, who had the record of playing a police officer 144 times in various Bollywood films.

Jagdish, the famous police officer of Bollywood, passed away yesterday at his Juhu residence following respiratory ailment. He was 85.

"He was not keeping well for the past two years. He had lung and respiratory problems. He passed away yesterday due to respiratory problems," the actor"s son-in-law Rakesh Malhotra said.

"Shri Jagdish Raj, the official "Polive Inspector" of the Indian film industry, passed away. RIP," director Rahul Rawail wrote on micro-blogging site twitter.

Filmmaker Ashok Pandit said, "Sad to know Jagdish Raj is no more. The industry lost its grt Police officer. RIP." "RIP Jagdish Raj, the quintessential police officer for generations in Indian films. Your works will live on," actress Soumya Tandon said.

"Not seen any news channel cover the demise of Jagdish Raj. Sad," Tanuj Garg of Balaji Telefilms said.

The last rites of the actor were performed yesterday evening at the Pawan Hans crematorium here.

"Only family and close friends had come for the last rites. From the industry, Rishi Kapoor, David Dhawan, Rahul Rawail had come. The "chautha" will be held tomorrow," Malhotra said.

Born as Jagdish Raj Khurana in Sargodha, British India (now part of Pakistan), he acted in films from 1960 till retirement in 1992.

Some of his popular movies include "Deewar", "Don", "Shakti", "Mazdoor", "Imaan Dharam", "Gopichand Jasoos", "Silsila", "Aaina" and "Besharam".

Though Jagdish occasionally played a villain and a couple of times essayed the role of a judge, he was best known for being cast a record 144 times as a police officer.