The Thuggee and Dacoity Department, also called Thagi and Dakaiti Department, was an organ of the

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

, 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 in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, which was established in 1830 with the mission of addressing '' dacoity'' (banditry), highway robbery, and particularly the Thuggee cult of robbers. Among the department's more recognised members was Colonel William Sleeman, who headed the outfit from 1835 to 1839 and is known as the man who eliminated the Thuggee. In 1874, Sir Edward Bradford, 1st Baronet was made General Superintendent of the Thuggee and Dacoit Department. According to Percy William Powlett in the ''Gazetteer of Ulwur'' magazine, the Meena tribe was known as infamous marauders which put under heavy surveillance by the ''Thuggee and Dacoity Departments agent in Alwar city. The department existed until 1904, when it was replaced by the

Central Criminal Intelligence Department The Department of Criminal Intelligence (DCI), originally called Central Criminal Intelligence Department (CCID), was the central foreign and domestic intelligence agency of the Government of India during the British Raj. It was established by ...

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