Haji Mastan

Haji Mastan Mirza
Born(1926-03-01)1 March 1926
Ramanathapuram, Madras Presidency, British India
(now in Tamil Nadu, India)
Died25 June 1994(1994-06-25) (aged 68)
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Political partyBharatiya Minorities Suraksha Mahasangh
SpouseSafra Bai
Children3

Haji Mastan Popularly known as Sultan Mirza, was an organised crime gang leader, originally from Tamil Nadu and based in Bombay. He was one of an infamous trio of mafia gang leaders in Bombay for over two decades from the 1960s to the early 1980s, along with Karim Lala leader of the Pathan gang, and Varadarajan Mudaliar, another famous gang leader from Tamil Nadu in South India.[1]

At his peak, Mastan operated a powerful smuggling syndicate in Mumbai and along the Gujarat coast and later diversified into film financing and real estate business.

Mastan was known to be a shrewd businessman and a cunning deal-maker. He always maintained friendly relations with the police and government officials and often promoted peace between rival gangs, and was good friends with Lala, Mudaliar, Hassan Patni and Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.[1][2]

Very early in his career, Mastan realized the importance of being seen among famous personalities from politics and the film industry as a symbol of power. Therefore, he hobnobbed among the city's rich and famous and was frequently seen with Bollywood personalities at public functions.[2]

Mastan was arguably the most influential mafia don of his time. He was also seen as a "style icon" by many due to his extravagant lifestyle including immaculate white clothes, white shoes, white Mercedes cars and expensive gold watches. Mastan flaunted an extravagant lifestyle to appear affluent and influential.[1]

  1. ^ a b c Maheshwari, Dhairya (16 January 2020). "Haji Mastan Mirza: Revisiting the story of underworld don often portrayed as 'Bombay's Robinhood". www.indiatvnews.com.
  2. ^ a b Bureau, ABP News (16 January 2020). "Not Just Indira Gandhi, Sena Founder Bal Thackeray Also Met Underworld good friend of Don Haji Mastan". news.abplive.com. abplive. {{cite news}}: |last1= has generic name (help)