Nithari killings accused Surinder Koli, Pandher acquitted, death penalty cancelled

Allahabad,Octo 16 :  The Allahabad High Court on Monday acquitted the two prime accused in the infamous Nithari murder case. The court found accused Surinder Koli innocent in the 12 cases against him, while co-accused Moninder Singh Pandher was found innocent in two cases against him.

With this, the death sentences awarded to Koli and Pandher stand cancelled. News agency PTI reported that the High Court let the duo go due to a lack of evidence and because the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.

“Allahabad High Court has acquitted Moninder Singh Pandher in the appeals against his death sentence in two cases. There were a total of six cases against him, of which he was already acquitted in four. Koli has been acquitted in all appeals against him. Now no case is pending against Maninder Singh Pandher in the Nithari case. He will be released from jail,” Pandher’s lawyer Manisha Bhandari told reporters after the hearing. A detailed judgment will be made available at a later date.

The Nithari serial killings, one of the most notorious criminal investigations in recent Indian history, involved the discovery of multiple human remains in and around Moninder Singh Pandher’s residence in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, in 2006. The grisly details of the case sent shockwaves across the country and led to the arrest and subsequent conviction of Koli and Pandher.

MUST READNithari killings accused Surinder Koli, Pandher acquitted, death penalty cancelled

Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surinder Koli were arrested on December 29, 2006, after the police recovered skeletons and other belongings of missing children from the drain outside his house in the Nithari locality of Noida.

Koli, who was accused of raping, killing and ditching the remains of his victims in the residence’s backyard and drain, was awarded the death sentence by a lower court. The conviction was upheld by the Allahabad High Court and confirmed by the Supreme Court on February 15, 2011.

Holding that Koli “appears to be the serial killer”, the court had said, “No mercy can be shown to him.” Notably, Koli and his employer Moninder Singh Pandher were also accused of cannibalism and necrophila.

A total of 16 cases were registered against Koli, and he was sentenced to death in twelve of them.

Pandher was convicted in some cases arising out of the Nithari serial killings and acquitted in a few others. Pandher had challenged the death sentence handed down in two of the cases by a trial court in the Allahabad High Court.

-PTI