Combo file photo of Surendra Koli (left) and Mohinder Pandher
| Photo Credit: PTI

A residents’ body in Noida on October 23 said it will move the Supreme Court against the Allahabad High Court’s recent order acquitting domestic help Surendra Koli and his employer Moninder Singh Pandher in the 2006 Nithari serial killings.

The District Development Residents Welfare Association (DDRWA) is consulting legal experts and has met the victim families to take the case further.

“We first thought of extending financial assistance to the victim families but after discussions it was decided that we will take up the case and bear the legal expenses of the case in the Supreme Court,” DDRWA president N P Singh told PTI.  “We have taken the consent of the victim families, and are consulting lawyers who are studying the high court’s order. They will guide us on the way ahead in this case. We are hoping to move the Supreme Court within a week,” Singh added.  Ashok, who had lost his five-year-old son in the Nithari serial killings, said he has spoken to the residents’ body about the case.

 “I have given them my go head for taking up this case in the apex court. Let’s see what happens next,” Ashok, who runs a footwear shop, told PTI.  Businessman Moninder Singh Pandher, 65, who was arrested in the sensational case, walked out of Luksar jail in Greater Noida on Friday.

The Allahabad High Court on October 16 acquitted him and his domestic help Koli in the case after noting that the prosecution had failed to prove guilt “beyond reasonable doubt” and that the investigation was botched up.

The two were charged with rape and murder and sentenced to death by a lower court in the killings in Nithari, Noida, that horrified the nation with the details of sexual assault, brutal murder and hints of possible cannibalism.

New Delhi/Noida:

Nithari’s serial killings’ accused Moninder Singh Pandhar was released from a Greater Noida jail today days after the Allahabad high Court cleared him of all charges.

The Allahabad High Court on Monday acquitted Moninder Singh Pandhar in two cases and his domestic help Surendra Koli – who is the main accused in the sensational case – in 12 cases.

Surinder Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher, who were convicted of rape and murder, were acquitted by the high court over lack of evidence.

The high court said the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.

Koli, however, continues to be a life-term prisoner for his conviction in one case. 

The serial killings took place at Moninder Pandher’s home in Nithari area of Uttar Pradesh’s Noida between 2005 and 2006, according to the CBI.

Surinder Koli worked as a help at Pandher’s home, which was dubbed by many as the “house of horrors” after the revelations. Koli would lure the children into the house, where he and Pandher raped and murdered them, it was alleged.

The police said they would chop up the bodies of the children and throw the parts in drains to destroy the evidence.

The discovery of body parts of a missing child in a drain near Pandher’s home led to a massive investigation that revealed the identities of more victims. Disturbing allegations of murder, mutilation, and even cannibalism held the nation’s attention for weeks and months.

The police said there were a series of gruesome murders of several more children, after which the case was taken over by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Koli had earlier also confessed to having sex with the dead victims and also eating their body parts.

The duo was also convicted for rape and murder of a 20-year-old woman.

New Delhi/Allahabad:

The Allahabad High Court today acquitted the prime accused in infamous Nithari killings, Surinder Koli, in 12 cases in which he was handed death penalty by a trial court.

Moninder Singh Pandher, the co-accused in the case, has also been acquitted in two cases.

Officials said Surinder Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher, who were awarded death sentences on the charges of rape and murder, have been acquitted due to lack of evidence.

The death sentences of both Koli and Pandher stand cancelled after the big high court verdict.

The serial killings took place at Moninder Singh Pandher’s home in Nithari area of Uttar Pradesh’s Noida between 2005 and 2006.

Surinder Koli worked as a help at Pandher’s home. Koli would lure the children into the house, where he and Pandher raped and murdered them, it’s alleged.

They would chop the bodies of the children and throw the parts in drains to destroy the evidence.

The case came to light after the neighbours found body parts of a missing child in a drain near Pandher’s home.

Investigation then led the police to a series of gruesome murders of several more children, after which the case was taken over by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The CBI had filed 19 cases against Pandher and Koli in 2007.

Surinder Koli was found guilty of rape and murder of several children at his employer’s house. Koli had earlier confessed to having sex with the dead victims and also eating their body parts.

The duo was also convicted for rape and murder of a 20-year-old woman.