Nithari killings: Pandher, Surinder Koli sentenced to death in 9th murder case

The shocking and gruesome case had come to light in December 2006 when the Noida police discovered skulls and skeletal remains of 16 persons, mostly children, from the drain.

A special CBI court in Ghaziabad on Friday businessman Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surinder Koli were awarded death sentence in the 9th case of sensational Nithari killings. The court on Thursday held the both guilty in the rape and murder of housemaid Anjali in 2006.

This is the third case in which Pandher has been sentenced to death.

Most of the victims were young girls. Prior to Pinki Sarkar case the two were convicted and sentenced in six cases, while nine are in various stages of the trial, public prosecutor Jaiprakash Sharma said.

The shocking and gruesome case had come to light in December 2006 when the Noida police discovered skulls and skeletal remains of 16 persons, mostly children, from the drain.

Earlier, many children had gone missing from the nearby clusters of Nithari and it was alleged that Koli would lure them to the house on the pretext of offering them sweets and chocolates, murder them and then have sex with the corpses. Police had discovered 19 skeletons from Pandher's house in Nithari in Noida on December 29, 2006. Pandher and Koli were charge-sheeted in 16 of the 19 cases, while three were closed for want of evidence

In a few cases, Koli had eaten human flesh as well, according to the CBI charge sheet.

(With agency inputs)