Nithari killing case: Both Moninder Singh Pandher and Surendra Koli acquitted; death sentence set aside

The sensational killings came to light with the discovery of the skeletal remains of eight children from the drain behind Pandher's house in Nithari, Noida, on December 29, 2006.

Lucknow: More than 17 years after the recovery of several human skeletons and bones of women and children from a drain behind their house at Nithari in Noida and their subsequent conviction by the special CBI court, which sentenced them to death, Mohinder Singh Pandher and his employee Surendra Koli were acquitted by the Allahabad high court on Monday.

A division bench comprising Justices Ashwani Kumar Mishra and S H A Rizvi, which had reserved its verdict in the matter after completion of hearing on their petitions challenging their sentences, acquitted Koli in 12 cases and Pandher in two cases citing lack of evidence.

While Pandher was likely to walk out of the jail after his acquittal, Koli would remain in the jail as he faces life imprisonment in one of the cases.

According to the lawyer of the petitioners, the HC said in its verdict that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond all reasonable doubt.

It was alleged by the prosecution that Koli used to lure girls and children to the Pandher's house, where the duo raped them before murdering them and disposing of their bodies in the drain behind Pandher's house.

The police had also alleged that the duo used to chop the bodies of the victims and dumped them into the drain. It was also alleged Pandher and Koli indulged in cannibalism.

The matter came to light 2005-06 after a man lodged a report with the police saying that his daughter, who had left home in search of a job, had gone missing. During the investigation the police had allegedly recovered several human skeletons and bones which they claimed were of the murdered girls and children.

Pandher's bungalow number D-5 had then been dubbed as the ''House of Horrors''. The killings had understandably triggered a massive nationwide outrage.

The case was later transferred to the CBI which registered as many as 16 cases of murders, rapes and kidnappings against Pandher and Koli. The special CBI court in Ghaziabad had later sentenced Pandher and Koli to death on charges of raping and killing a 15-year old girl in 2009. It was their first conviction. Later on, Koli was sentenced to death several other cases of rape and murder. Pandher was also awarded death sentence in one of the cases.

The CBI court had examined 38 witnesses and the hearing had lasted for 305 days.