Surendra Koli, acquitted in 2006 Nithari serial killings, found hanging in Haridwar

The 2006 Nithari killings grabbed national and international headlines after the discovery of children's skeletal remains in a drain behind the house of Moninder Singh Pandher, Surendra Koli's employer, in Noida's Nithari village. It remains one of India's biggest unsolved murder cases.

In Short

• Surendra Koli was acquitted in Nithari killings case last year
• He was found not guilty by Supreme Court in November 2025
• After acquittal, Koli shifted to Haridwar

Surendra Koli, who was acquitted by the Supreme Court last year while on death row in connection to the infamous 2006 Nithari serial killings in Noida, was found dead on Friday. Koli, in his early 50s, was found hanging at a tea stall that he had been running in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar since his acquittal, police said, adding that further investigation is underway.

Koli, along with Moninder Singh Pandher, his employer from the 2000s, was accused of rape and murder of children in a number of cases. The two were initially convicted in some of the cases and sentenced to death, with the Supreme Court later acquitting them in all of them.

With their acquittal, the 2006 Nithari killings grabbed national and international headlines after the discovery of skeletons in a drain behind Pandher’s house in Noida’s Nithari village, which remains one of India's biggest unsolved murder cases.

The November 2025 verdict was significant as it was the 13th and final case against Koli. He had already been acquitted in 12 other cases, and the latest acquittal left him free from the cases related to the gruesome killings.

In its order, the Supreme Court said that circumstantial evidence against Koli lacked forensic support and pointed to serious lapses, including failure to investigate leads related to the alleged organ trade.

NITHARI KILLINGS

The Nithari killings came to light in December 2006 after bones and skulls of children, as well as clothes and slippers, were found in a drain behind Pandher's house.

While at least 19 children were confirmed dead, the residence, bungalow D-5 in Sector 31, Noida, came to be known as the “House of Horrors."

Pandher and Koli, who worked as domestic help at his house, were arrested shortly after.

The Central Bureau of Investigation, which took over the case, filed multiple cases against Koli on charges including murder, abduction, rape and destruction of evidence. Pandher was charged in a case related to immoral trafficking.

Between 2009 and 2017, Koli was convicted in 12 cases involving the rape and murder of children and sentenced to death.

He came very close to being executed in 2007, but got a second shot at life after the then Chief Justice of India paused his death sentence, acting on a last-minute petition.

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