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.
Joy Bhattacharjya is a quizmaster;
Twitter: @joybhattacharj