Delhi: The father of a 15-year-old girl who was among the young victims in the 2006 Nithari case questioned the death of Surendra Koli in Haridwar on Friday, alleging that the former accused had been murdered and did not die by suicide.
“Surendra Koli has been murdered; he has not died by suicide,” said Jhabbu Lal (64), whose daughter was among the children who went missing from Nithari and was later identified as one of the victims.
Koli was found hanging at a rented tea stall on Sapt Sarovar Road in Haridwar on Friday. Police said a forensic team examined the scene and that the death appeared prima facie to be a case of suicide. The body has been taken into custody and panchanama and post-mortem proceedings are underway.
Lal, however, questioned why Koli would take such a step after spending several months outside prison following his release.
“If he had died by suicide in jail, it could be understood that he was depressed. But he took his life after being released and spending several months outside? This raises questions,” he said.
“He would have been about to disclose some important information. That is why he has been killed,” Lal alleged.
He also claimed that Koli was not the main culprit in the Nithari case and asserted that businessman Moninder Singh Pandher, at whose Sector 31 house Koli worked as a domestic help, was the main accused.
“Koli was not the main culprit. His owner Moninder Pandher was the main accused in the case. He should be hanged,” Lal said.
Lal and his wife Sunita (61) have spent nearly two decades seeking justice for their daughter. The couple, originally from Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district, moved to Nithari around four decades ago in search of work. Lal earned his livelihood by ironing clothes for residents in the area.
“If the government helps us, only then will we be able to continue our fight in future. We can’t fight on our own,” Lal said.
The Nithari case came to light in 2006 after skeletal remains, skulls and bones were recovered from the backyard and drains near Pandher’s D-5 bungalow in Sector 31, Noida.
The discovery exposed the disappearance and killings of several children and young women and triggered nationwide outrage, while residents were left fearful about sending their children out alone.
Koli, who was 30 when arrested in 2006, was convicted and awarded death sentences in several cases arising from the Nithari killings. However, he was subsequently acquitted in all 13 cases linked to the incident, with the Supreme Court acquitting him in the last remaining case in 2025.
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While allowing his curative petition in the final case involving the alleged rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl, the Supreme Court said criminal law does not permit conviction on conjecture or a hunch. It also observed that suspicion, however grave, cannot substitute for proof beyond reasonable doubt and that the identity of the actual perpetrator had not been established to the required legal standard.
Koli was released from Luksar District Jail in Greater Noida following the court proceedings and later moved to Haridwar, where he had been living for some time and running a tea stall.
Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding his death.
