Thuggee and Dacoity Department

Law enforcement agency

Thagi and Dakaiti Department

Agency overview
Formed| 1830
Dissolved| October 1903
Superseding agency| Department of Criminal Intelligence
Jurisdictional structure
Legal jurisdiction| British India
Governing body| Government of India
General nature|

* Secret police

Operational structure
Child agency|

* Central Special Branch

The Thuggee and Dacoity Department, also called Thagi and Dakaiti Department, was an organ of the East India Company,[1] and inherited by British India, which was established in 1830[2] 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.[2] 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 Department's agent in Alwar city.[3]

The department existed until 1904, when it was replaced by the Central Criminal Intelligence Department.[4]

## References

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1. ^ Parama Roy (1998). Indian Traffic: Identities in Question in Colonial and Postcolonial India. University of California Press. pp. 41–. ISBN 978-0-520-91768-2. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
2. ^ a b Giriraj Shah (1 January 1993). Image Makers: An Attitudinal Study of Indian Police. Abhinav Publications. pp. 52–. ISBN 978-81-7017-295-6. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
3. ^ Shail Mayaram (2003). Against History, Against State: Counterperspectives from the Margins. Columbia University Press. p. 131\. ISBN 0231127308.
4. ^ Floriana Ciccodicola (2012). Practicing Anthropology in Development Processes. Edizioni Nuova Cultura. pp. 210–. ISBN 978-88-6134-791-5. Retrieved 24 August 2013.