Haji Mastan
Mastan Mirza (1 March 1926 – 25 June 1994), popularly known as Haji Mastan or 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.
Haji Mastan Mirza | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1 March 1926 Ramanathapuram, Madras Presidency, British India (now in Tamil Nadu, India) |
| Died | 25 June 1994 (aged 68) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Political party | Bharatiya Minorities Suraksha Mahasangh |
| Spouse | Safra Bai |
| Children | 3 |
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.
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.
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.