How A Domestic Help Got "Butcher Of Nithari" Sobriquet

Surinder Koli, who was once labelled as the 'monster of Nithari', was found dead under suspicious circumstances in Haridwar.

18 Sep 2026, 09:16 · NDTV

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Children from poor families in Nithari began disappearing in 2006
Surinder Koli and businessman Moninder Pandher were arrested after remains were found near Pandher’s bungalow
Koli died by suicide in Haridwar today after living as a tea vendor following his acquittal

What specific evidence did courts find lacking during the appeals?
New Delhi:

It was 2006 when children, mostly from poor labourer families living in the lanes of Nithari - a village in Noida - began to go missing. Families complained, but their concerns were allegedly brushed aside by the police. The families of two missing girls, identified as Jyoti (10) and Rachna (8), suspected Surinder Koli - a domestic help working at the nearby home of businessman Moninder Singh Pandher - to be behind the disappearances. They approached the police, but to no avail.

It was only after the disappearance of a young girl, Payal, that the cops probed and traced her mobile phone to a local rickshaw puller, who claimed to have received it from someone living at the D-5 bungalow in Noida's Sector 31. This bungalow belonged to Pandher.

What followed was a gruesome discovery, years of legal battle, confessions, punishment, and then acquittals.

Now, 20 years later, Koli, known as the 'butcher of Nithari' - who was jailed and then acquitted last year in November - died by suicide at a tea stall in Haridwar.

The Nithari killings

The investigation led the police to find 16 human skulls, bones, and clothing stuffed in plastic sacks behind a drain next to Pandher's bungalow. When officers went inside the house, they stumbled upon evidence that would reveal what was initially believed to be a serial killing and cannibalism ring.

Reports suggested that the bodies were chopped with a "butcher-like precision".

Subsequently, Koli and Pandher were arrested.

Koli confessed to kidnapping children, sexually assaulting them, and disposing of their bodies in the drain behind the bungalow. Rumours spread quickly that some body parts of children were eaten or sold, though no conclusive forensic evidence ever substantiated these allegations.

The convictions

Both Koli and Pandher were charged with rape, murder, and destruction of evidence under multiple FIRs. Between 2007 and 2010, at least 19 cases were filed by the probe agency.

While Koli was sentenced to death in several cases, Pandher received both death and life sentences.

Following this, Koli appealed to the Supreme Court, which upheld the death penalty in 2011. The matter had also reached the then President Pranab Mukherjee - who had rejected Koli's mercy petition.

A midnight order

Koli was to be hanged on September 12, 2014, but the then Chief Justice HL Dattu passed an order at 1.30 am on September 8, putting up the execution by at least a week. The order was passed on a review petition by Koli's lawyer. The next month, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence.

In 2015, however, the Allahabad High Court commuted the death penalty to life imprisonment, citing the "inordinate" delay in deciding his mercy plea. Four years later, in 2019, Koli was awarded another death penalty in his 10th conviction. According to the counsel of the victims' family, Koli was convicted in 13 cases.

Acquittals

The Allahabad High Court eventually acquitted both Koli and Pandher in October 2023, citing "lack of credible evidence". It pointed to multiple investigative failures including - the crime scene was never secured before excavation began; the alleged confession by Koli was not recorded properly under law; contradictory details in remand papers; forensic evidence was either missing, contaminated, or inconclusive; and the alleged recoveries of bones and skulls were found in an open drain - which was accessible to all, making their evidentiary value weak.

The CBI, along with the Uttar Pradesh government and the victims' families, challenged the decision before the Supreme Court.

However, in November 2025, the top court too acquitted them of all charges, saying that the "suspicion, however grave, cannot replace proof beyond reasonable doubt".

Surinder Koli dies by suicide

Surinder Koli, who was once labelled as the 'monster of Nithari', was found dead under suspicious circumstances in Haridwar. After being acquitted last year, Koli had been working as a tea vendor in Haridwar for some time. His body was found hanging from a rope inside the tea stall.

No suicide note was found at the shop.

The police have informed his family in Almora and have initiated an investigation, officials said.

Koli, a resident of Uttarakhand's Almora, came from a poor family. Due to financial constraints, he had to drop out of school. Eventually, he came to Delhi-NCR in search of employment and worked as a labourer and domestic help. In 2004, Koli began working at the house of Pandher. He was around 20 years old at the time. He also had a family - an ill mother, a pregnant wife, and a young daughter.

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