Nithari serial killings: Pandher, Koli convicted of murdering 20-year-old woman

Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surinder Koli are facing trial over the killing and disappearances of many women including minor girls in Nithari in 2006.

A trial court on Saturday convicted businessman Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surinder Koli of murdering a 20-year-old woman, one of the several cases known as the Nithari serial killings of 2006.

Moninder Singh Pandher was arrested after the court’s verdict and sent to Dasna jail. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Pandher, who was out on bail, was taken into custody after the CBI court in Ghaziabad pronounced the judgment.

CBI special judge Pawan Tiwari held Pandher and Koli guilty of murder, attempted rape and destruction of evidence.

Koli has already been sentenced to death in seven out of 16 cases probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Moninder Singh Pandher at the CBI court in Ghaziabad. (Sakib Ali / HT Photo)

Pandher was earlier convicted by the trial court in another case in 2009 but was acquitted by the Allahabad high court. He is, however, facing trial in three other cases.

The police and later the CBI found skeletons in the premises and from a drain near the house of Pandher. The girls were lured into Pandher’s house where they were killed after being assaulted sexually, the CBI said.