Shillong, October 16: The Allahabad High Court delivered a verdict on Monday, acquitting the two primary accused in the notorious Nithari murder case.
Surinder Koli, the accused in 12 cases, and co-accused Moninder Singh Pandher, in two cases, were both declared innocent. Consequently, the death sentences previously awarded to Koli and Pandher have been revoked.
The Nithari serial killings, a highly infamous criminal case in recent Indian history, involved the gruesome discovery of human remains in and around Moninder Singh Pandher’s residence in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, in 2006. This case shocked the nation and led to the arrest and subsequent conviction of Koli and Pandher.
Surinder Koli, accused of brutally killing and dismembering children in Nithari, Noida, had been sentenced to death by a lower court. This sentence was upheld by the Allahabad High Court and confirmed by the Supreme Court on February 15, 2011, specifically for the murder of Rimpa Halder in 2005. The court, in its earlier rulings, had identified Koli as the serial killer and had stated that “no mercy can be shown to him.”
A total of 16 cases were registered against Koli, resulting in death sentences in twelve of them. Meanwhile, his employer, Moninder Singh Pandher, was convicted in some cases related to the Nithari serial killings and acquitted in others. Pandher had contested the death sentences issued in two of the cases in the Allahabad High Court.