On this day in 1963, a gang of 15 train robbers in England stole £2.6 million in bank notes, an incident remembered as the Great Train Robbery. This quiz is all about robbers, real and fictional.

Robbery alert

1 On March 19, 1987, a man who called himself Mohan Singh led a supposed ‘CBI raid’ on a well-known jewellery establishment in Opera House, Mumbai, and made off with jewellery worth more than ₹30 lakh. Name the jeweller in question.

2 ‘Super Thief’ Devinder Singh, reported to have committed over 500 burglaries, had a weakness for fancy cars and luxury watches. By which name was he better known?

3 What was stolen by a beaver or a coyote in Native American myth, Maui in Polynesian myth, and Prometheus in Greek mythology?

4 Simon Templar is a Robin Hood-like figure in fiction. He has many aliases, most often using the initials S.T. By which name is he better known in the world of fiction?

5 What is the name of the international artefacts thief, a criminal mastermind, who used to teach children geography in an early educational computer game named after her?

6 The first really famous American criminal, this former Confederate militia member robbed banks all over the South before being shot by another criminal, Robert Ford, in 1882. Name him.

7 In an operation named ‘Cocoon’, who was killed on October 18, 2004, by a Special Task Force led by K Vijaykumar near the village of Papparapatti?

8 Fiction. Mungojerrie and Griddlebone were little more than agents for whom, also referred to by the author as the “Napoleon of Crime’?

9 Where specifically would you come across a character named Sergio Marquina, played by the actor Alvaro Morte?

10 In 2014, in which district in India was a Punjab National Bank branch looted of possibly more than ₹100 crore after robbers dug a 125-ft long, 7-ft deep tunnel to reach the safe deposit boxes?

Answers

1 Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri; the imposter was never caught. The story inspired the film Special 26.

2 Bunty. Dibakar Banerjee’s Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! , starring Abhay Deol, was based on his exploits.

3 They all stole fire from the gods to bring it down to humans.

4 The Saint, a popular character created by Leslie Charteris.

5 Carmen Sandiego. Players had to track her down using clues based on geography.

6 Jesse James, the leader of the James-Younger gang.

7 Sandalwood smuggler Veerappan.

8 Macavity, the Mystery Cat, in TS Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats . He was obviously modelled on Professor Moriarty, Eliot being a huge fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories.

9 The Netflix series Money Heist . He is better known as the ‘Professor’.

10 Gohana branch in Sonipat, Haryana. The robbers were apparently inspired by the Dhoom series of films.

BLINKJOY
 

Joy Bhattacharjya is a quizmaster;

Twitter: @joybhattacharj

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