In the 19th century, thug gangs were active in Central India, targeting travellers by posing as merchants, soldiers or farmers to travel alongside them and win their trust. To commit murders, the gangs occasionally travelled with a family of 11 people for as long as 20 days.

During the evenings, the thugs used handkerchiefs tied with a coin knot to strangle travellers. The bodies were buried immediately and their stomachs were slit open to prevent swelling. Following a murder, the gang held a religious feast involving jaggery, while the leader prayed to a goddess for wealthy victims.

Appointment of Captain Sleeman and confessions of Bahram

Captain William Sleeman was appointed General Superintendent against the thug gangs in 1835. In a statement made in 1836, Bahram stated that he had strangled about 125 people and witnessed 150 other murders.

A map from 1838 recorded a figure of 931 murders linked to Bahram's gang over a period of 40 years. Bahram was presented before Colonel John Low in Lucknow in 1837 and sentenced to life imprisonment.