The Thugs or Thuggees, were history’s most notorious and deadly criminal cult. The name Thug, Thuggee or Tuggee is derived from the Sanskrit, sthag and Pali, thak. This means to hide or conceal, mainly a secret concealment.
http://www.historybits.com/thugs-thuggees.htm
“The Thugs or Thuggees, were history’s most notorious and deadly criminal cult.”
On the other hand, the British greased them and they disappeared by 1870.