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Gangster, they say, forbad the action (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

bandit

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'gangster' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'they say forbad the action' is the wordplay.
'they say' shows a homophone (sound like).
'forbad' becomes 'banned' (banning is a kind of forbidding).
'the action' becomes 'it' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'banned' sounds like 'band'.
'band'+'it'='BANDIT'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for bandit that I've seen before include "Dan bit the robber badly" , "Armed brigand" , "Highwayman" , "Thief" , "hood" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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