Sanjay Raut should be careful in future, says Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat

Objecting to Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut's remarks in which he had said that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi used to meet underworld don Karim Lala, Maharashtra Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat on Thursday asked him to be careful in the future.

"His (Sanjay Raut) statement was wrong. However, the matter ends as he has retracted his remarks. He should be careful in future. We had made him (Uddhav Thackeray) aware of this," Thorat told ANI.

"I believe that Raut realised his mistake and this type of statement shouldn't come," he added.

The Shiv Sena leader on Wednesday claimed that Indira Gandhi used to go and meet Karim Lala in Mumbai.

"There was a time when Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Shakeel, Sharad Shetty used to decide who would be Police Commissioner of Mumbai and who would sit in the 'Mantralaya'. Indira Gandhi used to go and meet Karim Lala. We've seen that underworld, now it's just 'chillar'," Raut had said here on Wednesday.

However, he retracted his remarks on Thursday saying if someone feels that his statement had hurt the image of Indira Gandhiji or hurt feelings, he takes back his remarks.

Lala was involved in smuggling, narcotics, gambling, forced property evictions, and extortion rackets in Mumbai for over two decades. He died in 2002 at the age of 90.