Nithari killings: Surendra Koli walks out of jail a free man, questions still haunt kin of Noida victims

In a dramatic turn of events in one of India’s most horrifying crime sagas, the Supreme Court on Tuesday, 11 November, acquitted Surendra Koli, the main accused in the Nithari killings, leading to his release from jail after nearly 19 years.

A bench led by Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, with Justices Surya Kant and Vikram Nath, observed that the prosecution had “failed to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt” and that “criminal law cannot operate on conjecture or suspicion.”

Koli, who worked as domestic help for businessman Moninder Singh Pandher in Noida’s Sector 31, was accused in a series of murders, rapes, and disappearances of children from nearby Nithari village between 2005 and 2006. The case shocked the nation after skeletal remains and human skulls were found behind Pandher’s bungalow.

While both Pandher and Koli were initially convicted and sentenced to death in multiple cases, most of the sentences were later commuted to life imprisonment. On 11 November 2025, the apex court cleared Koli in the final pending case involving the murder of a 15-year-old girl.

“The investigation suffered from glaring deficiencies,” the bench noted, adding that “the prosecution’s narrative lacked forensic consistency”. The court criticized the CBI and the local police for poor handling of evidence, failure to secure the crime scene and delays that compromised the case.

The Supreme Court expressed “deep regret that the identity of the true perpetrator remains unknown,” reiterating that justice must rest on proof, not presumption.

Clad in a blue shirt, black trousers, and a navy-blue jacket, Koli walked out of Luksar Jail in Greater Noida on 12 November 2025, accompanied by his lawyers. His family members were not present at the jail gate, and he declined to speak to the media gathered outside. It was not immediately known where he was taken after his release. According to media reports, journalists at the gate said he appeared dazed and refused to comment.

For many in Nithari, the verdict reopens old wounds — a reminder that closure may still be years away.

Outside the Nithari lanes, however, the mood was grim. “If not Koli and Pandher, then who killed our children?” asked Sunita Devi, whose daughter vanished in 2006. Activists have demanded a fresh probe to determine the real culprits.

"We were pained when Pandher (Moninder Singh Pandher) was acquitted...Pandher had admitted to his crime before Police. If Koli (Surendra Koli) is not responsible for it, if Pandher is not responsible for it, why were they jailed for all these years? In that case, those who jailed him should be hanged. If they are not the perpetrators, who is?," said the father of one of the victims.

Koli, who was 30 years old when arrested in 2006, had been awarded multiple death sentences in various cases over the years. In January 2015, the Allahabad High Court commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment, citing delays in deciding his mercy plea.

In October 2023, the high court acquitted both Koli and Pandher in other Nithari cases, overturning the death penalties awarded by the trial court.

The Supreme Court later dismissed all appeals against those acquittals on July 30 this year.