Gurnam

Gurnam is the main antagonist of Thea Stilton and the Prince's Emerald.

Thea Stilton and the Prince's Emerald
Gurnam is a brutal and greedy monkey catcher who works for the police and does his duty to keep a group of monkeys in check.

The Thea Sisters go to India to help their friend Ashvin bring the monkeys in Chennai to their habitat to help them, but the girls discover that the monkeys are stealing jewels all over the city.

After following a mischievous monkey named Jaya through the city and into a Bharata Natyam dance school, they enter a palace filled with monkeys and discover a suspicious-looking officer, Gurnam, using a net to try to capture a monkey. The Thea Sisters intervene and Gurnam confronts them. When they mention Ashvin, since they are searching for him, Gurnam tells them he is getting in the way of his job, which is why he dislikes him. He warns them to tell Ashvin to stay away from him and threatens to have the Thea Sisters arrested if they interfere with his job again.

Gurnam succeeds in capturing a baby monkey, but Ashvin leaps out and steals the infant away, saving him. The brutish officer chases Ashvin, who is too fast for him, and then storms off, grumbling angrily. Ashvin brings the baby monkey back to its mother.

Later on in the story, the Thea Sisters, Jaya, and Ashvin discover that Gurnam's henchmen are training the monkeys to steal jewelry. That's when the learn that he isn't trying to save the monkeys; he steals them from their home and forces them to work for him.

The friends hatch a plan. Pamela and Nicky steal Gurnam's henchmen's dinner to distract them while the rest of the friends free the monkeys. Unfortunately, Gurnam captures Pamela and Nicky and locks them in a warehouse, but the two of them free themselves.

The rest of the friends are aided by a village elder, Danesh. Gurnam, chasing the monkeys, follows them into some ancient ruins, but Ashvin, Jaya, Paulina, and the monkeys toss fruit at the evil rodent and his thugs. Paulina and Ashvin help the monkeys escape, and after a fierce climax, the police arrest Gurnam and his lackeys. Ashvin approaches Gurnam, pulling out an emerald he had stolen, which belongs to the maharajah's son, Lakshan Paneer. With Gurnam defeated, the monkeys are safe and India celebrates their victory.

Trivia

 * Gurnam is probably one of the vilest villains of the Thea Stilton series, alongside Angus MacNamouse and Sammy Sharkfur.