The father of a 15-year-old girl who was among the victims in the 2006 Nithari killings on Friday alleged that Surendra Koli was murdered in Haridwar and questioned the police’s preliminary finding that the former accused died by suicide, reported news agency PTI.
“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, whose name remained associated for nearly two decades with the Nithari killings, was found hanging at a rented tea stall on Sapt Sarovar Road in Haridwar’s Bhupatwala area 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 was taken into custody and panchanama and post-mortem proceedings were initiated.
Lal, however, questioned why Koli would have taken his own life 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,” Lal said, reported PTI.
“He would have been about to disclose some important information. That is why he has been killed,” he alleged.
According to the report, Lal also maintained that Koli was not the main culprit in the Nithari case and alleged 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.
Police have not confirmed the murder allegation and said the circumstances surrounding Koli’s death remain under investigation.
Koli, 50, was identified by police as the son of Shanku Ram and a native of Mangrukhal village in the Bhikiyasain area of Uttarakhand’s Almora district. He had been living in Haridwar for the past few months and had earlier worked as a security guard in Roshnabad. Police said he moved to the Bhupatwala locality four days ago and started operating the tea kiosk where his body was found.
Investigators are gathering information about his acquaintances, movements and activities in recent weeks.
Koli had worked as a domestic help at Pandher’s house in Noida’s Sector 31, where skeletal remains were recovered from a drain behind the property on December 29, 2006. The remains were linked to children and young women reported missing from the impoverished Nithari locality.
The discovery triggered nationwide outrage and led to a prolonged investigation and multiple trials. Koli, who was 30 when arrested in 2006, was convicted and sentenced to death in several cases arising from the killings.
The Allahabad High Court acquitted Koli and Pandher in the cases in October 2023, citing investigative lapses and insufficient evidence. In 2025, the Supreme Court acquitted Koli in the final remaining case, paving the way for his release.
While allowing Koli’s curative petition in the 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 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.
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 after skeletal remains, skulls and bones were recovered from the backyard and drains near Pandher’s D-5 bungalow in Sector 31, Noida, exposing the disappearance and killings of several children and young women.
Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding Koli’s death.
(With inputs from Narendra Sethi and PTI)
