'Matka King' Ratan Khatri passes away

The 'matka king', Ratan Khatri, who pioneered betting in India, passed away.

A resident of Navjeevan Society in Mumbai, Khatri was 88 and ailing with old-age related issues. Khatri rose to fame in the sixties as 'matka king', because of his dominance in gambling circuit.

In 1962, it was Kalyanji Bhagat, who started matka, and Khatri was a manager. In 1964, Khatri started his own Ratan matka.

Matka was a form or gambling and involved betting on opening and closing rates from New York cotton exchange.

Khatri's betting and gambling network was spread across India. It got the name matka as it involved drawing of chits form a pot.