Then, there are those movies that have left the audience writing down tricks of the trade. Or, that’s what these real life robberies look like. 

1. The Runaway Bride from Roorkee 

Movie inspiration: Dolly Ki Doli (2015)

While Dolly Ki Doli was originally inspired by a real-life incident, it seems it has given birth to another incident as well. 

On November 22, 2017, Ajay Tyagi, a farmer from Roorkee, Uttar Pradesh married Kaya and just a day after the marriage, his bride ran off with the gold and silver jewelry gifted by the family. The police are yet to catch the suspect. 

2. The National Handicraft Museum Robbery Case 

Movie inspiration: Dhoom 2 (2006)

Posing as a researcher for Kashmiri Pashmina Shawls, Vinay Parmar gained access to Delhi’s National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum, and even did a test run to assess the weak points in the museum’s security. He hid in the museum to verify which CCTV cameras were active, and then banged on the museum doors to be let out, pretending to have been locked behind erroneously. 

After months of preparation, Parmar along with his cousin Tarun Harvodiya, stole 16 shawls worth Rs. 2 crore and more than 250 years old on October 29, 2017, only to be later caught by the police.

3. The Chelembra Bank Robbery Case

Movie inpiration: Dhoom (2004)

In December 2007, a bunch of robbers made a hole on the floor of the Chelembra bank in Kerala and got away with gold and money worth ₹8 crores. When caught, the group leader confessed to have been inspired by Dhoom.

Right after the release of the movie, there had been a marked increase in robberies and chain snatching, with robbers rushing away on bikes! 

4. The Charkop Robbery Case 

Movie inspiration: Special 26 (2013)

The movie inspired a group of eight people to raid a businessman’s house in Charkop, Mumbai. Posing as Income Tax officers, the group amassed money and valuables worth Rs. 1.5 crore, but were later apprehended by Policemen, who were also made to see the movie to understand the way the culprits worked. 

The movie, that itself was inspired by real life incidents, has inspired 15 cases of robbery on last count. 

5. The West Delhi Robbery Case 

Movie inspiration: Bunty Aur Babli (2005)

The couple in question managed only 2 burglaries before they were apprehended by the police. The girl would enter the house posing as a beautician and apply facial mask on the victims, with the instructions to not remove the same for an hour. Within the hour, the couple would ransack the house and leave. The police caught onto the couple when two cases were reported in Inderapuri, West Delhi, with the same modus operandi.

Once caught, the police recovered cash and jewelry worth Rs. 1.5 lakh, along with other valuable items. 

6. The ‘Neta‘ Robbery Case 

Movie inspiration: Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008)

Just like so many of the other movies featuring on this list, this movie was inspired by the famous antics of ‘Bunty Chor’.

However, the release of the movie led many others to imitation. A notable case was of a well educated graphic designer, Sidharth Mehrotra, who stole exclusively from politicians and bureaucrats in the night, and pretended to live a luxurious lifestyle during the day. He was apprehended by the police who saw his photo on Facebook with a stolen car. 

7. The DDA Plot robbery case

Movie inspiration: Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006)

Certain DDA employees decided to use the tricks shown in Khosla Ka Ghosla in real life, and forged documents to sell and resell DDA plots resulting in disputes between parties. The police confirmed that the modus operandi was inspired by the movie. 

8. The MNC Warehouse Robbery Case 

Movie inspiration: Bombay to Goa (1972)

Inspired by the movie, three employees from a reputed MNC decided to loot the safe of a warehouse. With the motive to gain instant wealth, the group was also accused of murdering a security guard. Even though the group was caught by the police, only Rs. 1000 was recovered from the total Rs. 10 lakh stolen. 

9. The Kanpur Bank of Baroda Robbery Case 

Movie inspiration: Ocean’s Eleven (2001)

In December 2012, four people from Kanpur, robbed a branch of the Bank of Baroda and got away with Rs. 23 lakhs. When apprehended, the group admitted to being inspired by the Ocean’s series. The police noted that the group used helmets and goggles to prevent identification, taped their fingers to prevent finger prints  and talked to each other on ear phones. They also broke and threw their SIM cards after the robbery and separated to avoid detection. 

10. The ‘Richie Richi’ Delhi Robberies 

Movie inspiration: Robin Hood (2010)

Similar to the original tale, 27 year old Irfan, from Bihar, organised health camps and weddings for the poor in his village, all from the money earned through robbery. When caught, he was linked to at least 12 cases of robbery in Delhi and the police recovered various valuable items, including a Rolex watch that he was wearing and gold and diamond jewelry worth lakhs of rupees.

Now that’s some takeaway from a movie!