Nithari murder case: CBI court postpones hearing to May 12

Ghaziabad, May 5 (ANI): A Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Wednesday fixed May 12 as the next date for announcing the quantum of sentence on Surender Koli, who was found guilty of murdering seven-year-old Aarti in Noida's Nithari village.

"The court has fixed 12th May as the next date for hearing to decide upon the quantum of judgement," said Aarti's lawyer, Sanjay Tyagi.

Earlier on Tuesday, Special Additional District and Session Judge A K Singh had convicted 38-year-old Koli for Aarti's murder.

Aarti was the last of 19 victims in the Nithari killings. She disappeared about two months before the case was busted.

In a previous order on the Nithari killings, the special CBI court had on February 12 awarded the death sentence to Moninder Singh Pandher and Surender Koli for their roles in the Rampa Haldar murder case.

Just like in Halder murder case, the CBI has given a clean chit to Pandher primarily on the basis of his cell phone records, while holding only Koli guilty of the crime.

Unlike Rampa's father, Aarti's parents Durga and Neelam Prasad have never challenged the CBI's contention that Koli alone was the culprit.

Aarti had reportedly returned home from school on the afternoon of October 25, 2006 after which she went out to buy herself some toffees.

However, she never came back. A report about Aarti going missing was then taken down at the Sector 20 police station in Noida.

On December 29, 2006, Aarti's remains were found buried behind Pandher's home in Nithari.

Both Pandher and Koli are accused of killing and disposing off the bodies of 19 children and a young woman between 2005 and 2006.

The investigation of the case was handed over to the CBI on January 11, 2007. The CBI has filed chargesheets in 16 cases. (ANI)