Surendra Koli, the main suspect in the 2006 Nithari case, also known as the 2005–2006 Noida serial killings case, was exonerated by the Allahabad High Court on Monday. A second defendant, Moninder Singh Pandher, was also cleared by the court in two cases in which the trial court had given him a death sentence. For its decision, the Allahabad High Court found a lack of evidence.
Due to allegations of rape and murder, Surendra Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher have received death sentences. Pandher was found guilty of raping and killing Pinki Sarkar as well as multiple other rape, murder, pornographic, and cannibalism offences.
On December 29, 2006, the skeleton remains of eight children were found in a drain below Pandher’s home in Nithari, Noida, bringing attention to the shocking killings.
More skeleton bones were discovered when more digging was done and drains were searched in the vicinity of Pandher’s residence. The majority of these remains belonged to young girls and underprivileged children who had vanished from the neighbourhood.
The CBI took over the investigation within ten days, and their search turned up additional bones. Koli is imprisoned in Ghaziabad, while Pandher is housed in a jail in Noida.
Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic helper Surendra Koli are suspected of committing the Noida serial killings between 2005 and 2006.
When two Nithari village locals said they knew where the bones of children who had been missing for the past two years were located, the murders came to light.
Additionally, the two were parents whose daughters had vanished.
Later, after claiming to have discovered a decomposing hand in a drain, locals called the police.
Parents of children who have been missing for the past two years hastened to Nithari with photos.
After sexually assaulting six youngsters and a woman named “Payal” who was 20 years old, Koli, using the alias Satish, later admitted to killing them all.
The police detained both Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher on December 26 and 27, respectively, in relation to the disappearance of “Payal.” Following Koli’s admission, the police began excavating a neighbouring plot of property and found the bodies of the kids.
On December 29, 2006, Pandher and Koli were taken into custody.
