The Outlaws Of Bombay (EP03): Karim Lala

Haji Mastan may have been called the first don of the Mumbai underworld, but Haji Mastan himself said that the first don of Mumbai is Karim Lala.

From the 1940s to the 80s, Karim Lala was feared in Mumbai. Abdul Karim Sher Khan who went on to become Karim Lala was born in 1911 in Kunar province of Afghanistan.

Karim Lala was a member of the royal family, but he entered business for himself after the family's dissolution. He made up his mind to turn to India to achieve more success in his life.

In the early 40s, Lala realized the potential of the Jewelry Market and how Silver Gold, and Diamonds would make him handsome money.

Lala needed muscle power for it and to sustain in Mumbai, one needs connections and people who back you and also people who work for you, blindly.

He started the Pathan Gang. He was the leader of the Pathan community in Mumbai and started the organization of Paktun-E-Hind.

 People started to work for him, as he promised the people that worked for him a better life, handsome money, and security for the family.

Cut the to mid-40s, Lala had literally monopolised the Gold-Diamond smuggling market of Mumbai, no one could touch his hand in the game.

Pathan Gang along with smuggling did various other illegal activities, mainly, extortion, contract killings, Property Evictions, Hafta vasooli and started various "carrom clubs" which were fewer clubs but more like business offices of the Pathan Gang.

In later years, Mumbai was evolving and people started to rise up from various locations, be it Dongri, be it Matunga, and Lala realized the need to the hour was to be in the good books of the people and not be the ultimate target of the other leaders.

Lala later associated with the other two big heads of the smuggling trade in Bombay, Mastan Mirza aka Haji Mastan and Varadarajan Mudaliar.

In the seventies, Lala came up with an idea to divide Mumbai amongst themselves, i.e., Lala, Mastan, and Mudaliar; so that they could freely run their criminal activities without any conflict between them.

The three eventually split and agreed to operate in their specific areas as per the mutual agreement between the three.

Well, politicians weren't the only ones taking sabhas, Gangsters were no different. Lala started weekly Darbar too. Lala used to address the grievances of people as an arbitrator.

This practice made him so popular that people from different societies and communities approached him for help. At his Durbar, there used to be no difference between the rich and the poor. Karim also used to provide financial help to the needy and the poor.

This was nothing but an attempt to be portrayed as a people person in order to create a persona where people would love him, follow him, and also be scared of him.

Dawood's entry into the smuggling business disturbed Karim Lala. There was no bloodshed in Mumbai's underworld before the arrival of Dawood.

During the 1980s, the enmity and hatred between the two increased so much that Karim's Pathan gang murdered Dawood Ibrahim's brother, Shabbir, in the broad daylight.

Gang wars started on the streets of Mumbai. A blood war had begun between Dawood and Pathan gang. Dawood wanted to avenge his brother's death and in 1986, five years after the death of his brother, Shabbir, his gang members killed Rahim Khan, brother of Karim Lala.

Due to declining health, Karim gradually transferred the leadership of the Pathan gang to his nephew, Samad Khan, during the late seventies. He remained friends with his counterparts, Haji Mastan and Varadarajan.

In 1980, he tried to make peace between his nephew, Samad Khan, and his rivals, Saabir Ibrahim Kaskar and Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar but failed.

In addition to his illegitimate businesses, Lala also carried out legitimate businesses which included two hotels (Al Karim Hotel and New India Hotel) and a travel and passport agency named New India Tours and Travels.

He died at the Age of 90 in February 2002. Lala inspired many Bollywood roles and films mainly - Sher Khan from Zanjeer, and the latest release of Alia Bhatt named Gangubai Kathiawadi also has Ajay Devgn in the role of Karim Lala.

Read more : The outlaws of Bombay -EP02 Haji Mastan