From hijacked planes to robbed banks, the sky is the limit when it comes to declarations of love – because hearts and chocolates are too mainstream. All’s fair in love, and here is a list of some individuals who took this adage a little too seriously.
When a Hijack is Used to Send Past Lover a Message (2016)
On Tuesday, 29 March, a 27-year old man, Seif Eldin-Mustafa, hijacked a domestic Egyptian flight. This was not as an act of terrorism, but allegedly over – wait for it – his ex-wife. He sure got her to pay attention, and how.
According to witnesses, he hurled a letter in Arabic at an airhostess and demanded it be delivered to his ex-wife – brownie points for taking care of the drama quotient.
The hijack – which initially included 56 hostages – ended with Mustafa surrendering within a couple of hours. Though it was initially concluded that he was armed with explosives, they were later found to be fake.
Biggest Burglary in British History Potentially Busted by Rejected Lover (2015)
After a £200 million heist in Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company in London, the police were on to the robbers within 48 hours of the crime, allegedly owing to a tip by the jilted lover of one of the robbers. The four-member gang was caught within a little over a month of the robbery.
The heist included robbed safety deposit boxes containing hundreds of thousands of pounds in cash. The money, from what came to be known as the largest burglary in English history, was to offer security to the gang members – aged between 48-76 years – and their children as they retired.
Wheelie bins and bags, along with industrial drills, were used to gain entry into the building and transfer jewels. But hell indeed hath no fury like a woman scorned. The police were allegedly tipped off by a woman, a bitter lover of one of the members, and that was the end of this intricately detailed retirement plan.
Train Brought to a Halt Using Bomb Hoax (2014)
Once, when a young man named Abdul Khan was having a bad day in love, he unwittingly ended up ensuring a 4-hour long delay followed by the eventual termination of a train at the Roha station in Maharashtra.
The station manager received a call from Khan in which he accused a Harshata Mhatre of carrying a bomb while aboard the train. Soon, an official allegedly confirmed that the source of the call was Saudia Arabia.
After lengthy procedures to ascertain that not only was there no bomb on the train, but Harshata Mhatre wasn’t aboard either, Khan was charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Railways Act and the Information Technology Act.
Unrequited Love Results in Shooting Spree in New Delhi (2012)
Four years ago, a 25-year-old man, Ravi, went on a shooting spree in New Delhi killing the object of his affection, along with four other people. Soon after, he shot himself as well.
Trouble arose when the girl’s family refused to marry their daughter, Renu, to the accused. Bitterness of unrequited love took an ugly turn when an enraged Ravi shot Renu, her husband and her landlord to death.
Ravi then travelled 40 kms from the scene of the crime to Ghaziabad, where he shot Renu’s father and sister, after which he committed suicide.
Lover Robs Bank to Fund Partner’s Sex Change Surgery (1972)
The famous attempted-heist from the previous century, which also inspired the Al Pacino starrer Dog Day Afternoon, was orchestrated by the then 27-year old John Wojtowicz in Brooklyn, USA. He wanted to be able to fund his partner, Ernest Aron’s sex reassignment surgery.
The heist carried out by Wojtowicz and his two accomplices was foiled, but it made the three robbers media sensations. He eventually ended up serving a meagre five years of his twenty-year sentence.
Wojtowicz later sold the movie rights of his story for $7,500 ($36,000 today), and 1% of the net profit of the movie. He used the funds for Aron’s – later to be known as Elizabeth Debbie Eden – surgery.
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