former prime minister Indira Gandhi used to come to meet yesteryear don Karim Lala in Mumbai

Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday claimed that former prime minister Indira Gandhi used to come to meet yesteryear don Karim Lala in Mumbai. Recalling days of the underworld in Mumbai, Raut, who was earlier a journalist, said gangsters like Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Shakeel and Sharad Shetty used to have control over the metropolis and adjoining areas. They used to decide who will be the police commissioner, who will sit in ‘Mantralaya’ (secretariat), Raut said in an interview to a media group during its award function here.

“When Haji Mastan used to come to ‘Mantralaya’, the entire ‘Mantralaya’ would come down to see him. Indira Gandhi used to come to meet Karim Lala in Pydhonie (in south Mumbai),” claimed Raut, whose party formed a coalition government with the NCP and Congress in Maharashtra last year.