Allahabad, October 16, 2023 – In a significant ruling, the Allahabad High Court has acquitted the prime suspect, SurinderKoli, in 12 cases related to the 2005-2006 Noida serial murders, also known as the Nithari case, in which he had been sentenced to death by the trial court. In a parallel decision, another suspect, Moninder Singh Pandher, has also been acquitted by the Court in two cases where he had previously received the death penalty.

A bench comprising Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Syed Aftab Husain Rizvi allowed the appeals filed by Pandherand Koli. A more comprehensive judgment is expected to follow, providing detailed reasons for their acquittals.

The Nithari murders are infamous for a series of gruesome crimes believed to have occurred between 2005 and 2006. The case came to light in December 2006 when human remains were discovered in a drain near a house in Nithari, Noida. The owner of the house, Moninder Pandher, and his domestic help, SurinderKoli, were implicated in the FIRs as suspects.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took charge of the case and registered a total of 16 cases, charging Koli with murder, abduction, rape, and destruction of evidence. Pandherfaced charges related to immoral trafficking in one case. Subsequently, the Ghaziabad court summoned Pandher in five additional cases following pleas from several victims’ families.

As per the CBI’s findings, Koli had brutally murdered multiple girls, dismembering their bodies before discarding them in the backyard outside the house.

This acquittal marks a significant development in the long-standing Nithari case, and a more detailed explanation from the Allahabad High Court is awaited to clarify the reasoning behind these decisions.