The Thuggee and Dacoity Department was an organ of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sou ...

, and inherited by

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, which was established in 1830 with the mission of addressing '' dacoity'' (banditry), highway robbery, and particularly the

Thuggee Thuggee (, ) are actions and crimes carried out by Thugs, historically, organised gangs of professional robbers and murderers in India. The English word ''thug'' traces its roots to the Hindi ठग (), which means 'swindler' or 'deceiver'. Rela ...

cult of robbers. Among the Department's more recognised members was Colonel

William Sleeman Major-general Sir William Henry Sleeman KCB (8 August 1788 – 10 February 1856) was a British soldier and administrator in British India. He is best known for his work from the 1830s in suppressing the organized criminal gangs known as Thuggee ...

, who headed the outfit from 1835–39 and is known as the man who eliminated the Thuggee. In 1874,

Sir Edward Bradford, 1st Baronet Colonel Sir Edward Ridley Colborne Bradford, 1st Baronet, (27 July 1836 – 13 May 1911) was a British Indian Army officer who later served as Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, head of the London Metropolitan Police, from 1890 to 1903. ...

was made General Superintendent of the Thuggee and Dacoit Department. The department existed until 1904, when it was replaced by the

Central Criminal Intelligence Department The Department of Criminal Intelligence (DCI) was established in April 1904 under Sir Harold Stuart on recommendations of Sir Andrew Fraser, following the report of the 1903 Police Commission instituted by the then Viceroy of India Lord Curzon. ...

References

{{reflist 1830 establishments in British India Government agencies established in 1830 Organizations disestablished in 1904 Indian intelligence agencies History of law enforcement in India 1904 disestablishments in India Government of British India