NEW DELHI: “Pandher has already confessed and he has blamed you for all the killings. This is the time you reveal everything, or else you will be in serious trouble in a case of organ trade,” a policeman who interrogated Surinder Koli told him, tricking him into agreeing to cooperate with the police.
“Tell us, what did you do with all those children?” the policeman asked. “I killed them. Chopped them in pieces, cooked them in my cooker and later ate them,” Koli answered, leaving the police team stunned. A couple of them left the interrogation room immediately and locked the room from outside.
Senior officials were informed, and when the interrogation resumed, Koli’s hands and legs were shackled. The names of Koli and his employer Moninder Singh Pandher were widely spoken about by people in the country way back in 2006 for what came to be known as the Nithari killings or 2006 Noida serial murders.
The killings allegedly took place at Pandher’s home in the Nithari area of UP’s Noida between 2005 and 2006. Both Koli and Pandher were arrested and after a legal battles, they were sentenced to death. On Monday, they were acquitted by the Allahabad HC.
The HC bench said the loss of life of young children and women is a matter of serious concern particularly when their lives were brought to an end in a most inhuman manner but that, in itself, would no t justify denial of a fair trial to the accused nor would it justify their punishment even in the absence of evidence.
Missing woman’s cellphone traced to house Several people in Nithari had reported that their children had gone missing over a period of time. The anxious parents kept lodging complaints but nothing came of it till one day when the police, searching for a missing woman, tracked the last location of her mobile phone to Pandher’s house.
The police landed at the house and found Koli there. Upon being questioned, he allegedly disclosed that it belonged to his employer Pandher, who visited it only a couple of times in a month. When the police looked around the premises, they allegedly found at least eight skeletal remains in the backyard.
Later, the CBI, to whom the case was transferred, alleged in its final report that 19 children had been raped and killed there. Both Koli and Pandher were arrested. Koli was chargesheeted in all cases for murder while Pandher was charged in a single case under the provisions of the Immoral Trafficking Act.
He was later summoned as co-accused in five more cases by the trial court. In February, 2009, Koli and Pandher were, for the first time, awarded the death penalty. However, Pandher was later acquitted by the Allahabad High Court. Till 2021, Koli was awarded the death penalty at least 12 times by different courts for the killing of various children, mostly girls.
In its judgment, the Allahabad HC has cleared Koli of all charges. It pulled up the CBI for “completely overlooking” the possibility of organ trade in the case as the reason behind the murders. Reversing the death sentence granted by a sessions court in Ghaziabad, the HC held that “a fair trial has clearly eluded” the accused-appellants in this case
‘CBI failed to probe organ trade angle’ In its judgment, the Allahabad HC has cleared Koli of all charges. It pulled up the CBI for “completely overlooking” the possibility of organ trade in the case as the reason behind the murders. Reversing the death sentence granted by a sessions court in Ghaziabad, the HC held that “a fair trial has clearly eluded” the accused-appellants in this case. In February 2009, Koli and Pandher were, for the first time, awarded the death penalty. However, Pandher was later acquitted by the Allahabad High Court. Till 2021, Koli was awarded the death penalty at least 12 times by different courts for the killing of various children, mostly girls.
