Indian Penal Code, 1860
Section 391
repealedDacoity
When five or more persons conjointly commit or attempt to commit a robbery, or where the whole number of persons conjointly committing or attempting to commit a robbery, and persons present and aiding such commission or attempt, amount to five or more, every person so committing, attempting or aiding, is said to commit “dacoity”.
Why this exists
This section creates a distinct, more serious category of crime for robbery committed by a group of five or more people, recognising that gang crime of this scale poses a much greater threat to public safety and is harder for victims to resist or escape. Historically, dacoity by armed gangs was a major law and order concern in colonial India, and the law was designed to allow strong collective punishment of every member of such a gang, not just the one who directly took the property. A similarly defined group-robbery offence continues under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which replaced the Indian Penal Code in 2024.