An
Indian secret society of murderers, which the vernacular term, '
thug' comes from. Members of the
thuggee worshipped
Kali, and expressed their devotion through
murder.
The murders had to be bloodless, due to the details of the Kali myth, so the favored methods were strangulation and neck breaking.
Ironically enough, thugs were otherwise upstanding members of society, and they were fastidious about burying their victims, which lent to the mystique. Another interesting note is that the Thuggee crossed all boundaries of caste, making it pretty unique in Indian society at the time.
Between the British Raj's efforts to eliminate them, and the advent of railroads cutting back on the number of foot travelers to waylay, the Thuggee were supressed, and are believed to be defunct.