Nithari killings: Moninder Singh Pandher released from jail

The Nithari killings came to light with the discovery of the skeletal remains of eight children from a drain behind Pandher’s house in Noida

Moninder Singh Pandher was released from the Luksar jail in Gautam Budh Nagar on Friday after he was acquitted in the 2006 Nithari serial killings case on Monday by the Allahabad high court.

The high court had ordered his acquittal in the 2006 case after noting that the investigation was botched up. (HT sourced photo)

The high court had ordered his acquittal in the 2006 case after noting that the investigation was botched up.

The 65-year-old, who was one of the two prime suspects in the case, walked out of jail, located in Luksar area of Greater Noida, around 2pm on Friday.

According to officials, Pandher is a patient of tuberculosis and hence, was seen wearing a face mask.

Neither Pandher nor his lawyer spoke to the media after his release.

One of his lawyers, requesting anonymity, informed that Pandher will go to his Chandigarh residence.

Luksar jail superintendent Arun Pratap Singh said that the jail received release orders for Pandher on Friday.

“Pandher was lodged in jail for two cases and the release order for one of them was received on Thursday while the second one was received on Friday. Following formalities, Pandher was released from jail around 2pm,” said Singh.

He added that Pandher was lodged in a ward for tuberculosis patients at the jail.

“Pandher was transferred from Dasna jail in Ghaziabad to Luksar jail on June 4. Ever since then, he had been lodged in the TB ward of the jail as he is a patient,” said the official.

Pandher’s domestic help and co-accused in the case Surendra Koli remain in Ghaziabad’s Dasna jail.

The Nithari murders were committed between 2005 and 2006.

The matter came to light when in December 2006, skeletons were found in a drain near a house in Nithari, Noida.

Later, it was found that Pandher was the owner of the house and Koli was his domestic help.

Subsequently, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which was investigating the case, registered 16 cases, charge sheeting Koli in all of them for murders, abductions and rapes besides destruction of evidence, and Pandher in one for immoral trafficking. Surinder Koli was found guilty of rape and murder of several girls and was sentenced to death in over 10 cases.