Ratan Khatri, Mumbai's matka king of 60s-90s, dead at 88

Mumbai's infamous 'Matka King' Ratan Khatri died on Sunday (May 10)  at his home in Navjeevan Society in Mumbai Central area. He was 88.

Khatri belonged to a Sindhi family which came to Mumbai from Karachi in Pakistan when he was a teenager during the partition in 1947.

Khatri is regarded by many as the pioneer of the betting business in Mumbai and transforming matka (a form of gambling that originated in 1962) into biggest betting racket of the country. It is said that Khatri succeeded in setting up a pan-India gambling network that remained firmly in place for decades under his control.

Matka involved betting on the opening and closing rates of cotton transmitted from the New York Cotton Exchange. 

Khatri started his career with Kalyanji Bhagat, who started the Worli Matka, but very soon he decided to snap ties with Bhagat to form his own 'Ratan Matka'. The matka started by Ratan turned out to be a money-spinner for Khatri and there were days when the daily turnover from gambling touched as high as Rs one crore. Khatri remained active till 1990s before Mumbai Police swung into action to end his illegal businesses.