On 19 March 1987, a group posing as Central Bureau of Investigation officers executed a fake raid on the

Opera House An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venues are constructed specifically fo ...

branch of Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri & Sons Jewellers in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

(present-day Mumbai), Maharashtra, India. The raid was led by an unknown man who had assembled the group by inviting the candidates for fake recruitment interview. The unknown man disappeared with the spoils of the raid. The case has remained unsolved.

Heist

The person posing as Mon Singh or Mohan Singh had placed a classified advertisement in the 17 March 1987 issue of ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'', asking for "Dynamic Graduates for Intelligence Officers Post and Security Officers Post". Applicants were told to report to the hotel Taj Intercontinental between 10 am and 5 pm the next day. He rented an office at Mittal Towers in

Nariman Point Nariman Point is a prominent downtown area of Mumbai in Maharashtra, India. Located on the southern tip of the Mumbai peninsula, at the end of the Mumbai's Marine Drive, Nariman Point houses some of India's prestigious business headquarters. ...

to interview the candidates. Singh selected at least 26 candidates and asked them to report to the Taj the following day and were briefed about the 'mock raid' by Singh. On 19 March, they arrived at the Opera House branch of Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri & Sons Jewellers around 2:15 pm. Singh introduced himself to the owner, Pratap Zaveri, and produced a '

search warrant A search warrant is a court order that a magistrate or judge issues to authorize law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a person, location, or vehicle for evidence of a crime and to confiscate any evidence they find. In most countries, ...

'. He ordered the owners to turn off CCTV cameras and surrender a licensed revolver held on the premises. Singh and the fake contingent of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers did not allow any phone calls and took samples of ornaments for assessment of the quality of the gold. Singh picked 'samples' of jewellery and had them sealed in polybags. Cash was also collected. After 45 minutes Singh asked two men to put the briefcases in the bus. He asked others to keep watch on the shop and left in the bus to 'supervise' another raid. After about an hour, the owners called the Bombay Police.

Investigation

Police investigation revealed that Singh booked room number 415 at the Taj on 17 March and he put an advertisement in the newspaper. Police found that he reached the hotel after leaving the jewellery shop and hired a taxi from there. The taxi dropped him at

Vile Parle Vile Parle (, also known as Parle, pronounced "Parle" or "Parla"), is a neighbourhood and also the name of the railway station in the Western suburb of Mumbai. Vile Parle has a significantly strong base of Marathi and Gujarati population. It s ...

where he hired an auto. He was last seen there and there was no trail. The police put out a nationwide alert. They sent a team to

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

as his hotel record showed that he hailed from

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populatio ...

. A person named George Augustine Fernandes was arrested there but it was later found that he was not involved. They also sent a team to

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

but no headway was reported. According to 1987 report, the cash of and the jewellery worth about was looted. Other reports place the heist amount ranging from to . The case has remained unsolved. A year before, in October 1986, a similar advertisement was published in ''The Times of India'' and about 150 candidates had appeared at the hotel Taj for interview''.'' The CBI had received the tip but the interviewer did not appear. The event was considered as a "dress rehearsal".

Popular culture

* '' Khel'' - A 1992 Hindi film had a small heist sequence inspired by this incident. * ''

Special 26 ''Special 26'' is an Indian Hindi-language 2013 period heist thriller film written and directed by Neeraj Pandey. Based on the 1987 Opera House heist. The plot follows, A team of tricksters ( Akshay Kumar with Anupam Kher ) pose as CBI office ...

'' - A 2013 Hindi film, directed by

Neeraj Pandey Neeraj Pandey (born 17 December 1973) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who works in Hindi cinema. Pandey was made his directoral debut in ''A Wednesday!'', which was largely praised by critics and which later became a recip ...

, is based on the heist. It was remade in 2018

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

film '' Thaanaa Serndha Koottam''. * ''The Sialkot Saga'' - A book by

Ashwin Sanghi Ashwin Sanghi (born 25 January 1969) is an Indian writer and author of the novels: '' The Rozabal Line'', '' Chanakya's Chant'', '' The Krishna Key'', Sialkot Saga, Keepers Of The Kalachakra, The Vault of Vishnu and The Magicians of Mazda. ...

has referenced the heist.

References

{{reflist 1987 crimes in India Crime in Mumbai History of Mumbai (1947–present) Robberies in India Unsolved crimes in India 1980s in Mumbai