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
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