Nithari killings: Accused Moninder Singh Pandher released from jail
Moninder Singh Pandher, accused in the Nithari killings case, was released from Luksar jail in Greater Noida on Friday. The Allahabad High Court acquitted him in two cases and the prime accused, Surinder Koli, of all charges in 12 cases concerning the infamous 2005-06 Nithari serial killings on Monday, due to a lack of evidence. Initially, Koli reportedly confessed to murder and necrophilia.
Why does this story matter?
The case, reported in Nithari village of Uttar Pradesh's Noida Sector 31, shook the country as gruesome details emerged. The skeletal remains of 16 people, mostly children, were found in the drain behind the bungalow owned by Pandher, where Koli was employed. The police suspected the accused of having killed over 30 children, in addition to rape, cannibalism, and organ trade.
Police took no action despite being informed
Koli allegedly lured kids to Pandher's bungalow, dubbed the "house of horrors," with sweets and chocolates before killing and raping them. Law portals Legal Service India and iPleaders note that an abnormally high number of women and children in Nithari began disappearing in 2003—before Koli was employed at Pandher's bungalow as a domestic worker. The local police took no action despite being informed.
Koli was nabbed after tracing victim's call records
In 2005, some boys playing cricket discovered a plastic bag containing a decaying limb in the drain behind Pandher's bungalow. But the police reportedly dismissed it as an animal carcass. In May 2006, a 20-year-old girl named Payal went missing. The police registered a case after a furor, and her mobile phone was traced to Koli, who called her a day before she disappeared.
Koli, Pandher's death sentences were commuted
As political pressure built up, the then-Mulayam Singh Yadav government suspended two beat constables, Gautam Buddh Nagar's former SSP Piyush Mordia, former ASP Saumitra Yadav, and former circle officer Sewak Ram Yadav. Six sub-inspectors were suspended and later dismissed, the Mint reported. Koli and Pandher were attacked in Ghaziabad court in January 2007. Both were sentenced to death, but their sentences were commuted later.
Complainants died, retracted statements
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its first chargesheet said that Pandher was not involved in either rape or murder. Less than four months after Special Judge Rama Jain directed the CBI to probe Pandher's role in the Pinki Sarkar murder case, the victim's father, Jatin Sarkar died under mysterious circumstances. Two months later, Payal's father retracted his previous statement.
