Noida nithari killings: When the skeletons and remains of children were found in Nithari village of Noida, the whole country was stunned. Moninder Singh Pandher and his servant Surendra Koli were accused of this sensational massacre. He was also sentenced to death sentence from the court. But in the year 2023, the High Court gave a new mode to this entire case. Moninder Singh Pandher was acquitted of all matters related to the Nithari incident. After this, his servant Surendra Koli was also acquitted in cases after another. Now he is in jail in just one case. In which he can get relief quickly. In such a situation, the biggest question is that if both of them are innocent … then who is responsible for the Nithari incident?
Why was the Nithari scandal weak?
In Nithari, Noida, in 2006, when pieces of children’s bodies were recovered from the drain, the whole country was stunned. Surendra Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher were made the main accused of this gruesome case. But after years of hearing, the Allahabad High Court and then the Supreme Court acquitted them for lack of evidence. There were many basic flaws in the case – such as lack of forensic evidence, the confirmation of confirmation of Iqbalia statements in police custody in court and missing important evidence. All these things shook the foundation of the entire case.
Why did the Supreme Court maintain the decision?
During the recent hearing, the Supreme Court upheld the Allahabad High Court verdict, stating that the prosecution failed to prove the crime ‘beyond appropriate doubts’ against Koli and Pandher. The chip found in the investigation, which was a video of Koli’s confession, was not presented. Nor did Koli sign on that statement. The court found that the investigating agency also ignored the basic rules of the criminal case.
Which negligence provided relief to the accused?
The biggest lapse of the CBI and the police was – forensic evidence and absence of eyewitness witnesses. Neither blood marks are found from D-5 kothi nor remains of bodies. Seeman’s sample did not match with Koli. Even there was no scientific evidence of Koli being a ‘man -eating’. Things like keeping the dead bodies in the bathroom, cutting, burning and cooking were limited to the statements of the police custody – which was not confirmed anywhere.
Surious, bodies were found, then who was the killer?
This question has still become a mystery that if Koli will also be acquitted, then who was it who brutally killed 16 children? The court even said that this case was forcibly put on a poor servant. The smuggling angle of limbs was never investigated. The role of the owner of D-5 Kothi was not even investigated, while he was already an accused in the kidney scam. Did someone else commit murders and agencies left the real murderer?
Evidence not found from the ground
According to Koli’s statements, he put pieces of dead bodies in polythene and threw it into the drain and threw some in the ground. But nothing was found in the excavation of the land. Nor was any body identified with DNA. The investigating agency could not even prove that murders took place inside the kothi. The court said – ‘Neither a weapon was found for murder, nor any witness, nor any purpose.’ This is the reason that Pandher was acquitted and now Koli has also got relief.
Surendra Koli made ‘Bali Ka goat’?
The court also expressed concern over why there was a hurry to convict Koli alone. Initially Pandher and Koli were described as equal guilty, but later Pandher gradually got a clean chit and the whole charge came on Koli. Koli was not given legal help, medical examination was also incomplete and he was kept in police remand for a long time. Was it all part of a conspiracy?
Ang smuggling angle ignoring
Another aspect related to the investigation of the Nithari case was – organ trafficking. The court said that this aspect was never investigated seriously. The Ministry of Women and Child Development had demanded an inquiry in this direction. But the CBI did not even interrogate the owner of D-5 Kothi. Was this case just the story of ‘rape and murder’ or was there a big and organized gang working behind it?
Why the difference between the decisions of the courts?
The CBI court of Ghaziabad sentenced Koli to death in 12 cases and Pandher in 2 cases. But the High Court dismissed all these punishment due to lack of evidence. After all, how can the opinion of two courts be so different in the same case? According to the High Court, this case has become a sample of negligence of police and CBI. The chip which was the most important evidence was disappeared.
Released Pandher, but Koli is still in jail
Moninder Singh Pandher was released in the year 2023 after the Allahabad High Court’s decision. But an appeal of Koli is pending in the Supreme Court. In the Rimpa Haldhar case, he was first hanged and then life imprisonment. If it is acquitted in that case too, then it can also come out. This shows how the most serious matters also remain ‘devoid’ due to disturbances in the system.
So now who is the culprit of the Nithari case?
The Nithari incident, which shakes the country, has now become unresolved in the eyes of the law. Pandher is outside, Koli is in jail in one case, has been acquitted by all other cases. But who is the culprit of the 16 children whose bodies met the drain? If the investigation of the police and the CBI was not correct, did anyone else commit murders? Is he still roaming in the society openly today? The answers to these questions are yet to be found.
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